Plymouth State College Journal on Writing Across the Curriculum

Plymouth State College
Journal on
Writing Across the Curriculum
Volume 8
*Retrospective Issue*
Editorial Board
Roy Andrews, editor
Dennise Bartelo
Richard Chisholm
Mary-Lou Hinman
Warren Mason
Robert Miller
Proofreaders
Jean Smith
Robert Miller
2 Writing Across the Curriculum
Requests for copies:
Michelle Fistek
Coordinator, WAC Task Force
c/o Social Science Department
Plymouth State College
Plymouth, NH 03264
Reproduction of material from this publication, with acknowledgement
of the source, is hereby authorized for educational use in non-profit
organizations.
Copyright © 1997 Plymouth State College
Printed by Case Printing
Dedication
To Dick Chisholm
whose prolific output of articles
and editorial energy extraordinaire
has, over the last eight years,
been a mainstay of this journal’s life.
4 Writing Across the Curriculum
Editor's Introduction
The idea to publish this retrospective (“Greatest Hits”) volume
of the journal materialized during a WAC Task Force meeting in
the Fall of 1996. The group felt that over the eight years of
publishing an annual journal many fine pieces had been written
that warranted reprinting, both to facilitate rereading by veteran
faculty and to give newcomers an opportunity to read influential
articles published years ago. The group also felt that it would be
useful if authors shared how they now feel about the WAC ideas
they published years ago, and thus the form of this volume was
found.
Invitations to be a part of the retrospective issue were sent to
all authors who are still at PSC, putting into motion, in the spirit
of WAC, a process of self-selection that, as expected, resulted
(with just occasional arm-twisting from the editor) in this collection of the most popular articles of the last eight years.
Enjoy the read!
Plymouth State College
Journal on
Writing Across the Curriculum
Volume 8, August 1997
Contents
Strategies and Techniques
Using Drafts in History 231:
American Economic Development (1989 )_________________________10
William L. Taylor
A response to Bill Taylor’s article (1997) by Roy Andrews____________12
A Professor and Her Student Respond to Academic Journals (1990)_____13
Mary-Lou Hinman and Beth A. Loring
Academic Journals Revisited: Or Why the Professor
Hasn’t Changed Her Mind (1997) by Mary-Lou Hinman_____________20
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology:
Two Characters in Search of a Dialogue (1994)_____________________24
David Zehr and Kathleen Henderson
Afterword (1997) by David Zehr_________________________________35
6 Writing Across the Curriculum
Strategies and Techniques (continued)
The Circle (1992)_____________________________________________38
Meg Petersen
Back in the Circle (1997)_______________________________________51
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter(1992)________________________54
Larry Spencer
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter—A backwards glance (1997)______60
Modeling How We Think When We Write (1991)___________________63
Roy Andrews
An Afterword (1997)__________________________________________65
From Writing to Discussion (1990)_______________________________68
Katharine G. Fralick
From Partner and Group Pre-Writes to Discussions (1997)____________71
Exploring Voice in Business Writing (1994)_______________________73
Daniel P. Moore
WAC Reflection— 'Unsticking the Voice’ (1997)___________________78
The QCS Method (1989)_______________________________________80
Joel Funk
The QCS Method (1996)_______________________________________88
Teaching Freshman Composition—Getting Started (1989)____________90
Bonnie W. Epstein
Afterword (1997)_____________________________________________93
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class (1989)_____________96
Richard M. Chisholm
Peer Coaching in a Speech Class (1997)___________________________106
Reflections on Theory
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
and Ended Up Taking Algebra Again:
A Review of Useful Works on Writing Across the Curriculum (1989 )___110
Sally Boland
Goodbye, Ms. Goodwrench:
Using Conversation to Motivate Student Thinking and Writing (1997)___115
Iconology: An Alternate Form of Writing (1989)____________________123
Dennise Bartelo and Robert Morton
Iconography Revisited (1997)___________________________________139
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses (1990)_______________142
Thomas O. Schlesinger
Revisiting “Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses” (1996)_____150
Writing in the Computer Science Curriculum (1989)_________________154
William J. Taffe
Did I Really Write That? A Retrospective Introspection (1997)________160
Writing Experiences
Writing in the Capstone Experience:
Psychology Encounters Literature (1993)__________________________164
Henry E. Vittum and Robert S. Miller
Afterword (1997)_____________________________________________177
A Journal Revisited (1990)_____________________________________179
Russell Lord
Visiting a Revisited Journal (1996)_______________________________191
How WAC Changed My Life (1997)_____________________________192
Robert Hayden
Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of Statistics (1989)________198
8 Writing Across the Curriculum
Strategies
and
Techniques
10 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
Using Drafts in History 231:
American Economic Development
William L. Taylor
When first confronted with the concept of using drafts in
history courses, I believed that it would result in much more work
for me and only limited results for students. After attending the
first Writing Across the Curriculum workshop, I was willing to
take a chance and try it in the critique assignment required in HI
231: American Economic Development.
What convinced me to experiment and continue after the first
effort in the classroom? In the workshop conducted by Toby
Fulwiler, concepts discussed and experiences shared persuaded me
that the potential extra effort would be more than offset by the final
results. First, instructors did not necessarily have to read entire
drafts, but only the first page or, depending on length, pages.
Second was the likelihood that students would be willing to work
on improving their writing. Third was that second or subsequent
drafts by students would prove far more literate than the first.
My original concept in assigning a critique was to encourage
students to improve their writing and analytical abilities which are
so essential in a world ever more dependent on those able to
understand and to convey information. Frustration in grading this
assignment occurred regularly because of the seemingly wasted
Using Drafts in History 231:American Economic Development 11
effort of correcting and commenting on papers at the end of the
semester. Despite extensive commentary, I had the distinct feeling
that the comments were ignored and that all of my efforts went in
the “circular file.” Upon altering the process a couple of years ago,
I had a quite different sense of the consequences of my efforts.
Now students could use my comments and suggestions in their
revisions with the result that the final effort would incorporate
thoughtful revisions and careful review of what the student sought
to achieve.
The overall conclusion from this effort over the past two years
is not only positive but also reinforces my sense that students have
recognized the benefits for themselves. Course evaluations conducted in December 1988 confirm this observation. What seems to
occur is the sense that writing can be done initially without
incurring any penalty. This reduces anxiety and allows students to
take risks without any immediate fear of failure.
The final results are usually much improved—sometimes after
two, even three, revisions. When I grade the final submission, I
retain a sense that my efforts have resulted in positive reactions
which brought about actual efforts to improve the writing. The
students seem to recognize that they have the opportunity to
improve their work and do so in a non-threatening environment.
I do not wish to imply that this format is less work than the old
way of only commenting and grading a “final copy.” What makes
it worthwhile is the sense that students become motivated to
improve their work and that my comrnents and efforts are used in
a way that enhances the learning process. Isn’t that why we sought
a career in teaching?
12 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1997)
A response to Bill Taylor's article
Roy Andrews
I witnessed the effectiveness of Taylor’s responding techniques
while working with his students in the writing center. Minimalist
response focused entirely on the thoughts being conveyed. Just a
few words. An occasional word of encouragement when an
interesting idea was pursued. A suggestion for major change when
someone was off track. Taylor’s response said a lot in the fewest
possible words, launching the students into thought, but never
doing the thinking for them. The students were being prodded to
think and write like historians, but within those broad limits they
were encouraged to think for themselves.
(1990)
A Professor and Her Student
Respond to Academic Journals
Mary-Lou Hinman and Beth A. Loring
The professor begins.
Several years ago students in my Introduction to Literature
class were debating spiritedly about a Robert Frost sonnet when
one student turned to me, seeking arbitration. “What is the tone?”
she asked. I shrugged, wanting the class to work through their own
understanding of the poem. “Well,” the student demanded in
exasperation, “look it up in the Teacher’s Manual.”
I remember the incident with both amusement and sadness
because it clearly shows how often the American education system
emphasizes “the right answer” over the process that teaches students to find their own answers. In the interest of helping students
find that process, I began using academic journals in my literature
courses five years ago.
The journals were a substitute for the essay quizzes I had given
for years in an attempt to force students to read the assigned
material. But quizzes (at least ones I gave) had built-in problems.
Students didn’t like to take risks with material that would be
graded. Instead of reading the literature, they tried to read my
mind, to write on the quiz what they thought I wanted to read.
14 Writing Across the Curriculum
As I thought about incorporating journals into my classes, I
could see that they, too, might have built-in problems. What would
keep students from writing fifteen entries all at once instead of
writing individual entries after each reading assignment? What
would the quality of the writing and thinking be if I didn’t grade
each entry? Would the students consider the journals busy work
rather than a legitimate academic endeavor? I knew I didn’t want
to read “diary entries”; could I convince students to go beyond gutfeeling to serious and reflective critical thought? I assigned the first
journals with some real doubts.
Five years later I view journal writing as one of the most
important and challenging aspects of my courses. I know journals
are not universally loved by students; some of them are quite blunt
about their feelings on course evaluations. But over eighty percent
of my students endorse the concept of journal writing—some
begrudgingly, most enthusiastically. All students view journals as
more work, but most see the work as productive, pertinent, and
helpful. I wondered, however, what a student who had written
academic journals for a variety of professors in a variety of modes
might say about the benefits and pitfalls of this kind of writing. I
approached one of my ex-students, Beth Loring, who agreed to
collaborate with me on an article assessing journals as a pedagogical tool.
Professor and student find areas of agreement.
Beth and I were able to agree on a list of positive benefits
derived from the use of academic journals in classes I had taught
and she had taken:
• First of all, students learn the important thing is to think, not
necessarily to be right. They are able to explore ideas in
their
journals without being penalized and are there-
A Professor and Her Student Respond to Academic Journals
15
fore more apt to
take risks.
• Second, because students are more often right than wrong
in their assessments of what they read, their confidence
increases when they understand that they can read
critically. When they begin to believe in their own
abilities to read and think, students are more apt to challenge
their teachers’ assumptions. Therefore, classes are
livelier and more productive for students and professor.
• Third, student retention of material increases dramatically.
If journal entries connect with class discussions,
other assignments, and examinations, students understand more and retain material more effectively. Students
seldom forget material they have worked through
on their own and become increasingly adept at separating
the important from the unimportant.
• Fourth, students have to think about the material before
they come to class, for it is impossible to write a good
journal entry without some thought. Beth insists that
education is most successful when students react to what
they learn; an academic journal provides an opportunity
for expressing such reactions. She also sees the journal
as a place for students to express ideas that they cannot
comfortably state in class. In this case, the journal
becomes not only an intellectual and creative outlet but
also an agent for fostering more productive and fulfilling
student-teacher relationships.
• Finally, in spite of the emphasis in journal writing on
content rather than mechanics, the student writing in
journals is often far superior to their work in revised
essays. Beth and I noted that the quality of writing in
student journals improves as the semester progresses,
16 Writing Across the Curriculum
and that improvement is often mirrored in the professor’s
comments. In one of Beth’s own journals, the professor’s
comments changed from “Okay, but . . .” to “A wonderful
entry!—a fine reading of the story.” Beth had a written record of
her improved ability to analyze literature and her improved
writing skill.
Professor and student find areas of disagreement.
Beth and I agree that academic journals, for the most part,
effectively push students to greater understanding. But some of the
aspects of journal writing I find most positive, Beth questions. I
have felt that because students know they have to write about what
they read, they are less apt to give up on difficult material. I always
cite a classic student entry from one of my American Literature
classes:
Emerson says on page 898 that the essence of life is
spontaneity or instinct. I’m not quite sure what he is
getting at. Are spontaneity and instinct the same thing?
Wait a minute, I think I can answer my own question
now that I’ve thought about it. Is he saying that if we
acted out of instinct, that is, truly act the way we feel is
right to act, then we would inevitably be acting virtuously or correctly—?
I am fairly confident that in prejournal days, this same student’s
thought processes would have stopped with “I’m not quite sure
what he is getting at.” Beth responds that she and other students
are still apt to give up on particularly difficult assignments. Instead
of confronting such difficulties, Beth says, students mostly find a
way to avoid them. She suggests more faculty guidance for
particularly difficult reading assignments.
A Professor and Her Student Respond to Academic Journals
17
I had anticipated another problem which I have encountered in
a few student journals. My goal is to have students write journal
entries after they complete their reading but before class discussion. Some students, however, inevitably write their entries after
discussion. I have not been particularly concerned, for I have felt
the students were at least synthesizing class discussion and therefore writing useful entries. In my discussion with Beth, however,
I discovered that other students are angry at these “leeches,” and
she reminded me that students must react to assignments on their
own if they are ever going to move from passive to active learning.
Although she agrees that synthesis is useful, she believes that
academic journals are most successful when the professor insists
on independent thought and work. She reminded me of my own
statement that journals allow instructors to work with students at
their own level of understanding and sophistication.
Journals help the professor.
I assign academic journals because I believe they benefit
students, but student journals help me in ways I never anticipated:
• Students show me in their entries which assignments
work and which ones do not. I now give more careful
preliminary comments and instructions to assignments
that have proven in the past to be unclear or challenging
• I immediately discover when students have misconceptions
about their reading or about comments I have made
in class. I can respond to individual misconceptions in
the journals themselves, or I can take class time to return
to material that has troubled the group as a whole. I
find problem areas before examinations.
18 Writing Across the Curriculum
• Often students force me to look at material in new ways.
Sometimes they amaze me with their attention to detail
or with their fresh observations.
• I play a different role when I read student journals. Since
how students write is beside the point, I concentrate on
what they write. I respond to their ideas as a peer—
which means I can agree or disagree with their comments and explain why. I find the activity a pleasure,
not the drudgery that “grading” exams and papers can
be; therefore, I do not begrudge the time I spend
reading journal entries. And, as Beth reminds me, this
role makes the professor less intimidating. Students
react more positively, she insists, and work harder.
• Finally, I can see intellectual growth from the beginning
to the end of the term. In a profession where tangibles
are few, I am delighted to have a written record of a
student’s intellectual progress in the course.
The student offers suggestions for better journal
assignments.
Academic journals are used in a myriad of ways across the
disciplines at Plymouth State College. Of necessity differences in
course objectives dictate the guidelines established for the use of
journals. Keeping those facts in mind, I offer the following suggestions to the faculty for their consideration:
• Students generally participate in more than one course where
academic journals are assigned. Since each professor has a
slightly different concept of what a journal should be, faculty
A Professor and Her Student Respond to Academic Journals
19
should give students written instructions to clarify their
expectations for students and to avoid misunderstandings.
• Assigning specific topics for journal entries may make
more difficult pieces seem less threatening. Further
more, helping students focus on certain themes and
issues will encourage them to read and think more critically,
eventually on their own.
• Professors should collect journals early in the term and
frequently after that. This way, any questions or
misconceptions about the journal itself or reading
assignments will surface, and the professor can deal with
them immediately.
• Even though debate is healthy, professors should avoid
imposing personal interpretations on students. Instead
they should try to work with students at their own level
of understanding. The fastest way for faculty to destroy
student enthusiasm is to smother students’ ideas with
their own.
• When possible, faculty should connect journal entries
with class discussion, examinations, and assignments.
Through this connection of material, students gain more
understanding and retain material better.
• Finally, teachers and students alike should do their best
to keep the lines of communication open. Students
should look to professors for guidance, and professors
should look to students for their insights.
20 Writing Across the Curriculum
As always, the professor gets the last word.
I will continue to use academic journals. I think students learn
by writing journal entries, and I learn from reading them. Two
years ago Beth enrolled in her first course with required academic
journals. Since she had never encountered journals before, she was
apprehensive about the experience. Looking back, however, she
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
says, “I realize that those journal entries encouraged my growth as
a student, not to mention my growth as an individual.” If that is the
case, the experiment I began five years ago has succeeded beyond
my expectations.
(1997)
Academic Journals Revisited: Or Why the
Professor Hasn’t Changed Her Mind
Mary-Lou Hinman
“I really despise journals,” Christine writes early in spring
term. “Students are asked to write down opinions and ideas so that
they can be graded—so it can be marked down in a book that we
actually have ideas and opinions.” She is adopting the voice of
Daniel from Doctorow’s Book of Daniel, the novel under discussion in my Twentieth Century American Literature class. “There,”
she continues, and I see the smile in the words, “That was my take
on Daniel. That was my little rebellious impression of the kind of
tone I got from the book so far.”
Christine is playing, but she voices the sentiments of students
who fail to see the point of journals. Mostly, they would rather
take quizzes and tests or write short essays on assigned topics,
because then it is clear what I think is important, the slant I want
to take on the literature under discussion, and students are more
A Professor and Her Student Respond to Academic Journals
21
comfortable that way. But I don’t want my students “comfortable”; I want them to read and think and attempt to come to terms
on their own with difficult material. Journals help students with
that struggle.
Another entry from Christine’s journal is a case in point. This
time we are reading Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. In her
entry, Christine is working through one section of the mythic
poetry at the center of the novel. At first she writes methodically,
concentrating on simple paraphrase. Then she notices color,
traditional emblems, the use of the four points of the compass. She
begins to sketch directions, then sees how myth and direction
pertain to the main character of the novel. She writes in the
margins, draws diagrams, and makes notes to herself. In her
excitement, she goes to the internet to look at some criticism. She
comes to class full of information, a better understanding of the
novel, and a paper topic for her major essay—all because she was
required to write a journal entry.
For every Christine, however, there are students who write
almost nothing in their journals for me. These students are bright
and interested in the literature they read. They simply do not like
the regimen of writing in a journal. Mostly, their reticence on
paper is balanced by their vocalness in class. I know they’ve read
the material because they discuss it openly. But for those quiet
others—the ones for whom participating in class is downright
painful—the journal becomes a voice. I have one student this term
who has typed over a hundred single-spaced pages in his journal.
All of it is excellent, thoughtful work. Most entries relate to the
reading for class, but some focus on literature in general, on
defining what makes a piece of literature great. Sometimes he
writes poetry in the style of the poet under discussion. I always
save his journal for last: it is pure pleasure to read.
22 Writing Across the Curriculum
Or take the case of Jenn, who writes cogent and intelligent
journal entries, but cannot take my exams. I ask her why, and she
answers in her next entry, “. . .you asked me what happened to me
on my exams, since my journal entries are good. I think the
answer to that question is that in my journals, I am never forced
to answer one specific question, whereas on an exam I am. In a
journal I can comment on any aspect of a poem or story that I
wish, and I can do it informally. . . . Exams always make me
nervous. . . .” I remind myself as I read her explanation how much
I like to read journals and how much I hate grading exams.
I have heard colleagues say they don’t use journals because
they don’t want to read bad, unedited prose. I insisted in our
article seven years ago, “. . .student writing in journals is far
superior to their work in revised essays.” I haven’t changed my
mind. I think back to the first novel we read in my Twentieth
Century American Literature class spring term, John Updike’s
Rabbit Run. Students were eloquent in voicing their distaste for
the protagonist and their reluctance to see him as a good man. To
broaden discussion, I gave them criticism that made references to
Rabbit as a recipient of Grace. The journal responses were farranging and passionate. I give you one entry here, not because it
was the best, but because it shows the level of thought and
involvement in the assignment.
Journal Entry:
Rabbit, Run by John Updike with reference to the handout
I am not going to try to explain the Jesus Christ references. Nor do the ideas of Rabbit as a mystic interest
me. I can not think of this book as deeply as (it seems)
I am expected to because I could not feel for the
characters, and therefore I was not interested. But I do
find the reasoning behind Rabbit’s cruel accusation to
Janice regarding the death of Rebecca interesting. I
A Professor and Her Student Respond to Academic Journals
23
think it is something we have all done at sometime in our
lives to get out of a sticky situation.
The handout says that Rabbit points the finger at Janice
to free everyone from the common guilt of death. I do
not agree with this statement. I believe he is attempting
to free himself from the circumstances that involved the
death of his child. Placing the blame on the person who
did the actual act of killing, no matter how accidental,
frees him from all blame of the wrong he did Janice by
leaving her.
So why is what Rabbit says so bad? Because it was
cruel, by any standpoint. Cruel to Janice, the mourners,
and to himself. I believe that part of the reason he left
the graveyard is because he was also fleeing from his
own guilt that was brought to light by his accusation. By
placing the blame of the actual death on Janice in front
of everyone, he clears himself of that wrongdoing. But
then the question is, “why did she do it?” All eyes turn
to Rabbit, the husband who left his pregnant wife, who
drove her to drink, who lived with a prostitute, and who
still does not want to be where he is in life.
In spite of the frustrations of using journals—students who
won’t do entries; students who copy class discussion and try to
palm it off as their own work; the extra time I spend reading—the
kind of lively exchange you see above makes me assign them
semester after semester. Journals are a showcase for bright
students and a voice for quiet ones. In their entries, students try
out ideas, voice reservations or complaints, or return to class
discussion long after it has ended. And I get to read lively and
interesting prose. What more could I desire?
24 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1994)
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology:
Two Characters in Search of a Dialogue
David Zehr and Kathleen Henderson
Introduction
by David Zehr
Few students enrolled in an introductory psychology course
ever become professional psychologists. And realistically, only a
small percentage of psychology majors end up employed in psychologically-oriented professions. For that simple reason many
students often fail to see the relevance of learning about research
methods. In the introductory course students want to learn about,
among other things, deviant behavior, altered states of consciousness, and psychotherapy. I’ve yet to encounter a student who
comes to introductory psychology drooling over the prospect of
discussing internal validity, falsifiability, and the differences between experimental and correlational research. “Why do we need
to know this stuff?’’ and “I’ll never use this” are questions and
statements I hear every semester. I usually counter by saying that
every student is a decision maker, and that by learning about
research methods one can become a better decision maker. At this
point their incredulous stares suggest that I need to be a bit more
explicit, so I ask them to consider the following scenarios:
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
25
A friend tells you that the son of a friend committed
suicide after listening to heavy metal rock music. Your
daughter loves heavy metal. What do you do?
A member of a Presidential Commission reports that
pornography causes rape. You find a Playboy magazine
under your son’s bed. Will he rape?
A magazine article reports that working mothers are
more likely to raise behaviorally troubled children than
women who stay home. You work and are thinking of
starting a family. Should you quit your job?
I encourage them to admit that before they’d censor records,
burn magazines, or give up a promising career, they’d seek more
information, evaluate it, and then arrive at a decision regarding the
best course of action. Every one seems to realize that, yes, one
needs to know what information is pertinent, what its source is,
who’s disseminating it, and whether it is valid. After my lengthy
verbal exhortation about how research can help answer these sorts
of questions, students admit that maybe knowledge of research
methods could benefit them in some way. At this point in time I
claim victory in a skirmish, but still face an uphill battle: getting
students to see how research can be relevant in their own personal
experiences and getting them to master often difficult and dry
material.
Developing Writing Assignments
When I began teaching introductory psychology, I knew that I
needed to create assignments that would help my students better
understand research methods, for without that foundation much of
the content matter is difficult to master. It was apparent from prior
26 Writing Across the Curriculum
experience that merely lecturing about methodology did little more
than encourage them to memorize information that might be seen
on an upcoming exam, and I wanted them to be able to think clealy
about methodological issues and apply what they had learned. So,
to supplement my lectures on the topic I began to develop writing
assignments that I assumed would induce the critical analysis that
I sought.
One of my first assignments was based upon a supplementary
reader. Students were asked to read both sides of some controversial issue in psychology, for example, is psychotherapy effective,
or, can attitudes affect recovery from illness. They were then
asked to write a paper identifying strengths and weaknesses of the
two arguments. It was my expectation that they’d see right
through major flaws, of which there were many, e.g., drawing
causal inferences from correlational data, or generalizing findings
from biased samples.
Did the assignment work? Of course not! Students read both
sides of the issues, but their papers were, for me, a major disappointment. Invariably they’d write papers praising the side of the
issue they agreed with initially, while disparaging the opposing
viewpoint no matter the merits of its supporting evidence. I was
learning a lot about my students’ attitudes toward controversial
issues in psychology, but they weren’t learning a darn thing about
research methodology and its relevance to their lives; I subsequently adopted a different supplementary reader.
The new reader promised that it would help students “think
straight” about psychology. It promised to explain how science is
done, how science is different from pseudosciences, and how one
could avoid pitfalls in evaluating the flood of information we are
confronted with daily in the mass media. Those are pretty hefty
promises and I suspected from my experience with the first
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
27
supplemental text that merely reading the book was not going to do
the trick. So once again I sat down to devise an appropriate
writing assignment based on the reading. My initial attempts were
less successful than envisioned. I’d assign certain chapters for
students to read, then I’d ask them to do something along the
following lines: identify ten important concepts from your reading,
define the terms, and write a short paper telling me where you see
these principles illustrated in “real life.” That’s an oversimplification of the assignment but it does give you a sense of what the
students were up against. Oh sure, every semster I tried something
a little bit new, but it was always the same assignment in different
clothing, and I was therefore chronically depressed when I did the
grading. All of the papers sounded the same. Students didn’t
really seem to understand a lot of what they were reading, and
therefore couldn’t even begin to explain the relations between
methodological issues and the outside world. For example, the
idea that a good theory is one that is falsifiable was problematic for
many students. Upon hearing the term “falsifiable” they automatically assumed it meant a given theory was false, and therefore no
good.
On sabbatical in the Spring of 1991, I spent time critically
examining several of my courses. Looking at my experiences in
introductory psychology I realized that my writing assignments
were too directive and lacked meaning for the student. It was as
if I was having the students do an intellectual scavenger hunt.
Scavenger hunts are a fine form of entertainment but a lousy
pedagogical tool. So it was back to the drawing board.
I’m not really sure where the idea came from, but one day I
decided that I had to do something to allow the students to use
their own unique talents in mastering the material; I had to do
something less directive; and I had to do something that would
allow me to assess whether students really understood the prin-
28 Writing Across the Curriculum
ciples I wanted to convey. Then it hit me. I often adopt the
personas of different characters in my classroom when I want to
illustrate certain things. Acting out the material certainly gets
students’ attention, and they seem to remember those classes more
than the ones that are straightforward lectures. And so I thought,
if I can act out certain ideas, why couldn’t the notion of acting be
incorporated into my writing assignments?
Buffy and Elvis Make Their Debut
The assignment was short and direct. After reading their
methodology text, students wrote plays incorporating the content
into a dialogue. I provided two characters and a general theme. The
characters were Buffy and Elvis, two students enrolled in an
introductory psychology course. Buffy had read and loved her
methodology text; Elvis had not read it and therefore not loved it.
The theme was as follows: Elvis had just finished watching a TV
show featuring Dr. Elmo Zehr (my evil twin), who made an
incredible statement regarding human psychology. Elvis was duly
impressed. Students were told to put the words in Dr. Zehr’s
mouth; they could write whatever they wanted but it did have to
deal with psychology. They were further instructed to write a
dialogue between Buffy and Elvis in which Buffy must convince
Elvis, based upon her knowledge of methodology, that Dr. Zehr is
a complete charlatan. Students were told that they could add
additional characters, expand the setting, in essence, do whatever
they wanted to do with the material and the characters.
Did the assignment work? I certainly think that it did. The
play that appears at the end of this article is just one among many
that induced copious tears of joy. To me it is quite clear that this
student knows what the methodological concepts mean. I sense
that the student found the assignment challenging and had fun
doing it. From my vantage point as grader, this was one of the best
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
29
things I ever did in a class. There was little ambiguity in assessing
students’ levels of knowledge; plus, each paper was different.
When I have to grade 90 or so papers, variety helps. I also had
little fear of students violating academic dishonesty norms; two
students independently writing two identical plays would have
been something that not even Elmo Zehr would foresee as possible.
Conclusion
My success with this assignment was heartening. It reinforced
my belief that the study of research methods does not have to be
soporific. I think my students also now see that knowledge of
methodology is not foreign to their interests nor their well-being.
I am certain that I have not heard the last from Buffy and Elvis.
*
*
*
Skip the Sauce and Hold the Jalapenos
by Kathleen Henderson
(a paper written for Dr. Zehr’s Introductory Psychology course)
Concepts (in order of appearance):
breakthrough
great leap
converging evidence
Einstein syndrome
connectivity
artificiality
falsifiability
replication
“Man Who”
single case
30 Writing Across the Curriculum
Scene: An under-maintained, over-priced student rental in Plymouth. Buffy is at the kitchen table studying diligently when her
friend and fellow classmate, Elvis, bursts through the door clutching a videotape.
Buffy [startled]: What are you doing here? I thought you had a
class?
Elvis [flushed with excitement]: I didn’t go. I was too busy
recording this. [Fumbles with VCR] How do you work this thing,
anyway?
Buffy [somewhat put out, goes to the VCR and puts in the tape]:
I’ve got a lot of studying to do for that psych paper. Have you
even started the reading yet?
Elvis: When you see this tape you’ll realize how unimportant all
that stuff is.
Buffy [rolling her eyes, sits next to him on the sofa]: This better
be good, Elvis. I’m busy.
[TV recording starts.]
TV Announcer: And now, it’s live with B.S. Daley! America’s
favorite talk show host!
Buffy: You didn’t! You skipped class for B. S. Daley?
Elvis: This is the most monumental psychological breakthrough of
our time. Listen to this!
B.S. Daley [with microphone in hand before the live audience]:
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
31
We are indeed fortunate to have with us as today’s guest, America’s
most renowned psychologist to tell us of his revolutionary new
method of psychoanalysis. Here he is, ladies and gentlemen—Dr.
Elmo Zehr!
[Wild applause. Dr. Zehr enters stage and takes seat next to host.]
B.S. Daley: Dr. Zehr, I understand that your years of research
have led to a startling new approach to psychoanalysis. Please tell
us about it.
Dr. Zehr: The clinical term I’ve given my procedure is
cuisinanalysis. It’s the process of analyzing an individual according to what he or she eats.
B. S. Daley: Amazing, just amazing! Can you tell us how it
works?
Dr. Zehr: Certainly. It’s a well known and often stated fact that
we are what we eat. Well, I’ve taken that concept one step further
and actually studied the behavior patterns and personality traits of
people who habitually choose certain types of food. In every
instance, I obtained the same findings.
B.S. Daley: Can you elaborate on some of these findings?
Dr. Zehr: In a total departure from previously held beliefs about
personality and behavior, I’ve discovered that the food people
consume is really “telling all,” as they say. For instance, those
who always smother their food in sauces and gravies are actually
suffering from feelings of insecurity. The sauces are like a—a
security blanket for these people.
B.S. Daley: Of course. That makes perfect sense! Please tell us
32 Writing Across the Curriculum
more.
Dr. Zehr: One discovery most people find particularly disturbing
is related to the consumption of hot spicy foods. These people
only eat those things when there’s someone there to watch them.
It’s a desperate, almost masochistic attempt to get attention. And
those who pile on the condiments—it’s not an insult to the
meatloaf, but a sign they’re trying to hide something.
[Gasps from women in the audience.]
B. S. Daley: No wonder your research has catapulted you to the
forefront of your field. Can we take a few questions from the
audience now? Yes—you up there.
[Popping up from her chair like a coiled spring, a young rosycheeked co-ed waves at the camera.]
Co-ed: Yea, what about people who eat really gooood, like tofu
and mineral water?
Dr. Zehr: Very interesting cases. Extremely deep feelings of guilt.
This response represents a subconscious attempt to purify themselves—to cast off this guilt, so to speak.
Co-ed: Oooo, thanks. I guess.
B.S. Daley: Do we have another question?
[Overweight middle-aged man in very loud tight suit, slowly
stands.]
Middle-aged man: Yea, doc. I’m a butcher, and I want to know
about people who always come in and buy up all the organ
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
33
meats—liver, kidneys, you know?
Dr. Zehr: Classic expression of self-hate.
Buffy [leaping up from the sofa and turning off the TV]: That’s
enough!
Elvis: No!
No!
There’s more!
Buffy [thrusting the tape back into his hands]: Tell me you don’t
really believe this, Elvis. Please!
Elvis: Of course I do, and you would too if you’d listen to the rest
of this tape.
Buffy [snatching her Stanovich text from the table and holding it
before her like the cross before Dracula]: This, Elvis. This is what
I believe!
Elvis: But this guy’s for real! I mean, he even helped the FBI
crack a murder case. They put him on a stake-out in a buffet line
and he picked the guy out on his way back to the sausage and
peppers!
Buffy [pulling out chair for Elvis]: Sit down, Elvis. We’re going
to talk.
Elvis: You’re not going to read that thing to me?
Buffy [putting Stanovich aside]: No, I’m going to ask you
something. Doesn’t it seem odd to you that years of research by
brilliant psychologists just got flung out the window by that—
that—guy!
34 Writing Across the Curriculum
Elvis: He’s a revolutionary. I mean, didn’t Einstein startle
people? And I bet you would have pulled the plug on him, too.
Buffy: Einstein didn’t totally discredit the work of others who had
also done some extremely worthwhile things. Maybe they weren’t
right on the money like he was, but it was all important. Real
breakthroughs in science don’t happen overnight. They build on
what’s already established.
Elvis: He’s worked hard, too. Five years it took him! Hiding
behind potted plants in restaurants, working the salad bar at
Bonanza...
Buffy [interrupting]: What about controlled conditions?
Elvis [hostile]: I know what that means—a lab! You think he’s
a quack because he got his findings out in the real world and not
some sterile lab with rats and buzzers and test tubes!
Buffy: Don’t you see? None of his theories can be proven one
way or another. Other researchers can’t test his theories because
they can’t replicate his research.
Elvis: It doesn’t take a scientist to see how right he is. I know a
man who used to put sauces all over everything and then eat a jar
of pickled jalapenos for dessert. And do you know what? He was
abandoned as a child and no one ever noticed him. Isn’t that just
a bit amazing?
Buffy: That’s a single case! How would you explain that millions
of Mexican people eat spicy food all the time? Do you honestly
think they’re all starved for attention?
Elvis [momentarily subdued]: That’s different. That’s—culture.
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
35
Buffy: It’s more than that, Elvis. It’s multiple causation. His
research is flawed. Not only that, but it’s flawed research that has
absolutely no commonality with any meaningful work that’s ever
been done in the field. Show me the converging evidence!
Elvis [sinking deeper in chair]: That tape is all the converging
evidence I need. I mean, take me for instance. I bet after watching
that tape you can tell a lot about me.
Buffy [scrutinizing him caustically]: You’re right. You should
stop eating scambled eggs and screwdrivers for breakfast!
[Buffy jumps up from the table and goes to the refrigerator. Elvis
follows.]
Elvis: What are you doing?
Buffy: I’m going to have my lunch.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Elvis [breathless at the opportunity to obtain his own empirical
(1997)
evidence]: And just what might
that be, may I ask?
Buffy: Breaded fishsticks.
Afterword
Elvis:
Wow,
I wonder what that means?
by
David
Zehr
Buffy
[cutting
frozen
sticks
withInknife]:
It means
thatToby
I’m
I came
to PSC
in the
fall apart
of 1985.
the spring
of 1986,
starved forwas
protein
andtocarbohydrates,
anda workshop
if Elvis doesn’t
get sort
out
Fulwieller
invited
campus to give
on some
of my
apartment
right
now,
he’ll
be
dead
for
sure
this
time.
new, at least to me, pedagogical movement called “writing
across the curriculum”. As a new faculty member I was encouraged to attend the two-day presentation by my department Chair.
[The End]I could about attending a
Summoning all of the enthusiasm
summer workshop, I cheerfully, I think, agreed to do so.
In all honesty I really can’t remember clearly my expectations
36 Writing Across the Curriculum
toward the workshop, but from prior experiences they couldn’t
have been too high. Too often workshops are uniformative, poorly
presented sermons to the already-converted. Looking back now at
that first WAC program, I dare say, and happily so, that it was
unlike any other workshop of which I’d ever been a part. “Inspirational” is one of those cliched adjectives used to describe so
many common, everyday events which are anything but; however,
Toby’s presentation was truly deserving of that label. What he said
was important not only for the workshop participants, but for
everyone at the college. The WAC program has been tremendously
sucessful at Plymouth State, and I feel fortunate to work at an
institution which places such high value on using writing to learn.
Not long after Toby’s presentation, I began to think of how I
might use writing differently in my classes. My first success at
using writing in the WAC framework was for a history of psychology course that I teach. Seeking to expand on the success I had
with that assignment, I next applied WAC principles to my introductory psychology course. To me, an essential part of that class
is learning about how psychologists do research. Methodology,
however, can be difficult for students to master well, particularly
at the introductory level.
At around the same time I was wondering how to do a better
job at teaching research methods, I stumbled on a small textbook
called, How to Think Straight About Psychology, written by Keith
Stanovich.l I liked the book and the way it spelled out to the
nonprofessional the value of research and the way it was conducted. I immediately adopted it and decided to use it as the
cornerstone of some new writing assignments, most of which
incorporated two alter ego characters, Buffy and Elvis. The first
assignment developed in this context was described in the preceding article.
Buffy, Elvis, and Introductory Psychology
37
In looking back I assert confidently that the assignment worked
in ways that I hadn’t even imagined. Instead of getting and having
to read the same repetitive, regurgitative, mind-numbing papers of
the past, I was now getting writing assignments that were carefully
crafted, humorous, and different for each and every student, all of
which made grading them a delight rather than a chore.
As I continue to teach introductory psychology, I still use these
sorts of assignments. I am at a point, however, where I am
beginning to feel again a need for change, just as I did all those
years ago when Toby Fulwiler first introduced me to those favorite
little words Michelle Fistek* now likes to whisper in peoples’ ears
(no, not “let’s go shopping”, but “writing across the curriculum”).
Buffy and Elvis have served me well, but perhaps they need, as did
even Calvin and Hobbes, a respite from it all. In a sense they are
getting one. Currently my introductory psychology students are
writing a play, but this time with their own characters and their
own plots. I see this as a transitional assignment; one that will
allow me to keep on using proven techniques as I try to figure out
where WAC will lead me next.
*Dr. Fistek is the Coordinator of the WAC Program.
38 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1992)
The Circle
Meg Petersen
The circle formed on Wednesday nights. Far from the English
Department, in a room decorated with meteorological charts, my
composition class would sit in silence for an hour reading and
writing comments on each other’s papers. The circle began as a
less threatening way for shyer students to receive peer response,
but grew to become much more. Through this written conversation, a community of learners and writers formed and evolved.
This community challenged us to engage in honest dialogue, and
gave us support, a sense of having been true to ourselves and a
chance to be heard. Reflection on the experience led me to see
broader implications about the place of the personal in academic
life and students’ potential contributions to academic discourse
communities across the curriculum.
From the beginning, I had structured the composition class to
require regular writing. To enable me to respond to students while
they were in the process of writing, I required a five-page paper
every week on the topic of the student’s choice and a weekly
conference outside of class. I formally evaluated only revised
versions of pieces in portfolios submitted at midterm and at the
conclusion of the course. While I did not grade their weekly
papers, I underlined mechanical errors and wrote a page of commentary responding to the work. In my written comments, I tended
to focus on the effectiveness of the writing. In conferences, I
The Circle
39
responded more to the content of the papers.
I also wrote a five-page paper every week. I shared aspects of
my composing process and my finished papers with the class. The
course established a rhythm over the first several weeks, and I was
generally
satisfied with its progress. Students seemed to be working on
issues important to them in their writing and taking more control
of their weekly conferences. But I was concerned about response.
Students needed more response than my comments on their
papers each week. During the Wednesday class session, I provided
time for students to read their pieces aloud to the class and receive
commentary. Those students who availed themselves of this opportunity found it valuable, but most couldn’t bring themselves to read
their work in front of the group. The same students always seemed
to take advantage of the sharing sessions. I was concerned that the
majority weren’t getting response from their peers.
The idea of the circle was to create a less threatening way for
students to get peer response. Written response, while lacking the
interactive quality of oral sharing, would allow everyone to receive
feedback on their work in a single class period.
To introduce the circle exercise, I simply brought a stapler and
some loose sheets of paper to class one Wednesday night and
asked everyone to attach several sheets of blank paper to the back
of their composition. After we had moved our chairs into a circle,
I explained how the exercise would work. To begin, we would pass
our papers to the right. We would read the piece we received and
write comments on the paper stapled to the back.
I asked students to center their response around two basic
questions, “What works?” and “What needs work?” and to be as
40 Writing Across the Curriculum
specific as possible, as this would help the author more than
general comments like, “Good paper.” When they had written their
comments, they were to look for someone else who had finished in
order to exchange papers. With these simple directions, “the circle
exercise” was born.
Shortly after the first pieces had been passed to the right, a
stillness fell over the room as everyone began to read. I turned to
the piece which had been passed to me. I noticed my reading of the
piece changed when I wasn’t underlining errors. I began to relax
and follow the words. I wrote on the attached paper, sticking rather
strictly to my own guidelines about responding to what worked in
the piece and what needed work and looked up for someone to pass
it on to. Everyone seemed to be reading intently; a few were
writing comments. The only sounds I heard were noises filtering in
from the hall. Finally someone looked up. We crossed the space in
the center of the circle to exchange papers.
With this second paper, my reading became even more relaxed.
As I read of this student’s experience with appendicitis, I found
myself thinking about the time I had spent in the hospital with my
son’s hernia operation. When I reached the end, I read the comments of the student who had read the piece before me. She had
followed my guidelines for response rather loosely: “The lead
really caught my attention, but I think you should explain more
about the hospital room—maybe add more description.” Then she
had taken off in another direction: “Something like that happened
to me once. I could relate to a lot of what you said here. When I
was in sixth grade, I had to go to the hospital for an operation on
my heel. I was scared and felt very lonely.” The piece had also
brought up memories for me. I decided to let the author know.
As time went on, my responses in the circle exercise became
more those of a person and less those of a writing teacher. I
The Circle
41
enjoyed my reading more, not worrying if I was teaching them
anything, knowing I would write my teacher-oriented comments
later. I became more fully a member of the classroom community.
I left it up to the students to choose if they would sign their
comments. Most did not. When I received my own pieces back at
the end of a circle session, I usually did not know who had written
the comments.I tried several variations on this structure, but the
students indicated they preferred the basic format. I occasionally
added specific things to comment on (e.g. leads, focus, order, etc.)
that we had been discussing in class.
Concentric Circles
Once a routine was established, several things I hadn’t anticipated started to happen. I began to notice signs that the expanded
audience provided by the circle was affecting the composing
process. Students frequently asked in conference if they would
have a chance to pass their piece around the circle. Sometimes they
asked my opinion on whether the class would like a certain piece.
I did not require them to submit the paper they were currently
working on if they did not wish to. I provided the option to submit
a previous piece in case the current one dealt with a personal topic
the student would not feel comfortable sharing. Most often, however, their reason for not sharing was that they felt those pieces did
not represent their best effort.
Students began to care about their writing more and depend on
the response they were receiving from their peers. Response
validated what was said. One student said he was “testing the
power of writing...I have found this tool has infinite leverage.”
Another wrote, “Stories have shown me that past experiences can
be re-experienced through writing. The experience will never leave
42 Writing Across the Curriculum
you if you have it in front of you.” We learned about the power of
being heard. “It helped me to express feelings and write stuff that
normally I would not have written.” We learned how our writing
could affect readers.
Testing the Waters
Students began to use the circle response sessions to test the
effectiveness of their writing. They judged the success of their
efforts by their peers’ responses. One student wrote:
I set out to write a cliffhanger. And judging from the
response I received, it worked. ‘I must read the ending!’
and ‘When you finish this, you better let me read it!’
were some of the favorable responses I got.
Another explained, “My intentions in writing the piece were to
get the feelings on paper. From the responses, I guess I did that.”
But responses that pointed to problems in the piece were also
highly valued. Students used these responses to show them where
they needed help in the writing. Even though the pieces we passed
around were that week’s finished copies, the responses often led to
revisions. One student wrote:
The most valuable kinds of responses I got were when
people gave me ideas of ways to make the piece better
or asked questions that I could use the answers to add
more in the paper.
Questions were viewed as signs of reader interest:
The responses that best stay with me are the questions.
The Circle
43
When you hear or read questions, you know what you
have to expand on. You understand what you left out and
are able to see what the reader is interested in. Through
questions I am able to learn what is more important to
others and what needs to be elaborated on more within
the story.
As were requests for clarification and more detail:
I liked it when people told me specifically what needed
to be fixed.... And I also like it when they (the readers)
tell me where they need more detail. I may have it in my
head, but they don’t understand because it jumps around
too much. This helps my story develop into a better story
that a reader will better understand.
When the audience expanded beyond the teacher to include
peers, revisions made more sense and took on more importance.
Even if the writer didn’t choose to revise the particular piece being
commented on, she took what was said into consideration the next
time she sat down to write.
Community
Maxine Greene (1988) describes how we need to open up “a
public space, a space of dialogue and possibility” (xi). She holds
out hope for education to provide a context for open dialogue
between authentic beings. “In contexts of this kind, open contexts
where persons attend to one another with interest, regard and care,
there is a place for the appearance of freedom, the achievement of
freedom by people in search of themselves”(xi). The circle allowed
us a space in which we could begin to speak the truth. One student
wrote:
44 Writing Across the Curriculum
A lot of [comments] also supported me when I wrote
about topics which were very emotional for me. I was
also there for others who chose to open themselves up,
looking for support. I remember one girl wrote about
how she didn’t want to move into her new stepfather’s
house after her parents’ divorce. Another girl wrote
about her sister attempting suicide. It felt good to be able
to comment on those papers and support the writer’s
point of view. This encouraged them to open up even
more in the next essay...by sharing our essays we became
a unit.
Students began to use this community to seek help with problems. One woman said of a piece she wrote about her troubled
relationship with her parents, “I wrote it hoping someone could
relate to it and maybe give me some ideas.” And sometimes they
received it:
The response that affected me the most came from my
essay about. . . when my mother announced she wanted
a divorce from my father the night before I left for
college. The quote was, ‘You are a tough woman, [name].
You are going through a lot and not only are you
handling it well, but you can share it with others. I
appreciate the fact that you can share this with me.’ I
don’t know who wrote that, but it certainly made me
think. I realized I did feel better after writing how I felt
in the essay.... This person really helped me to feel
better. To whoever it was- thank you!
Some of the support was simple validation for the writer as a
writer. One student says simply, “The most valuable information I
have received this year is that there are people who like some of
The Circle
45
the things I have written. This makes me have more confidence
and determination to write a piece that is even better...”
The circle created community. Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater (1991:1)
describes this type of academic community as “an extended family
unit that functions as a support system for students’ exploration of
personal and intellectual literacy development.” Our community
supported our efforts, spurring us on to attempt pieces we would
not have tried to write under normal circumstances.
This community was unique in that while virtually all comments were positive in spirit, the vast majority were given anonymously. We
received support from the group, most often without knowing
which individuals it came from.
The trust level was high in this anonymous community. The
personal content of the pieces that were passed around surprised
and impressed me. Experiences with alcoholism, drug use, suicide
attempts, divorce and rape made their way around the circle and
were treated with respect. This level of trust challenged us to meet
a high standard of honest writing. And the truth-telling taught us
writer’s truths. As one woman put it, “I learned that honest pieces
get the most reaction from your peers. I also learned that it is hard
to write pieces that are completely honest.”
The Conversation
The circle helped us establish a dialogue in which one piece led
to another, not only about personal experiences, but ideas. Papers
about experiences would trigger memories or give someone the
courage to write about similar experiences. Papers about ideas
sparked connections and drew us into communal written conversa-
46 Writing Across the Curriculum
tions. Some papers were written directly in response to others. We
developed an ongoing conversation on several issues: abortion,
suicide (right to die), and the drinking age among them.
In response to several different papers about abortion, I wrote
a paper about how unfulfilling I found the public debate and about
the lack of real choices in this country. One of the authors of the
papers I was responding to wrote, “You got me thinking. I liked
the way you compared your experiences in Santo Domingo with
the United States. It gives another perspective.” Another wrote,
“It’s hard for me to see the side of the pro-lifers, but I like how you
don’t really ram anything down the reader’s throat.” Another
considered the issue for the first time: “I never really thought much
about what abortion really means. What was also interesting was
the amount of time mothers get off from work after they have a
child.”
Another made a personal connection:
I really liked this. It makes you think about what choices
women have in life. I work in a hospital in Somerville,
Mass., and I see poor people who are lacking medical
treatment because they do not have money. It is pretty
sad to think a baby must have a baby to be loved.
Some students consciously began to use the circle as a forum
to inform their classmates about issues important to them like the
rain forests, animal research, and capital punishment, or to educate
them about things they were familiar with. One writes, “I liked the
fact that I could educate the class about a whole other culture so
different as Jamaica.”
We all learned from this exchange of ideas and experiences.
We learned about the ideas, but more about ourselves and the
The Circle
47
power of writing to reach people and to change lives. One student
used a quotation from Bob Dylan to describe the circle: “We were
all the same; we just saw it from a different point of view.”
Clearly the circle gave these student writers (and their teacher)
a way to be heard. This forum inspired us to write better pieces
each week and helped us generate ideas. A member of the class put
it this way: “Through the process of learning to write I can now see
more. Everything has come into focus...In the effort of returning to
a whole person, I meet people along the way. This is the gift of
living.”
Implications
In her study of the academic literacies of college students,
Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater (199lb) found that university students
were asked to write within a very narrow range of forms in their
content courses. Their personal understandings of course material
were not valued or considered relevant. She recorded no incidents
of sharing of student writing outside of the English class.
When the concept of circle response moves beyond the writing
classroom’s focus on process into content-oriented classes, the
purposes expand and the effects are transformed. The power of the
circle exercise stems from its dual nature as personal, yet public,
discourse.
Students care more about writing they know they will share
with peers. Traditionally, academic writing is produced for an
audience of one, the teacher, who typically knows more about the
subject than the
writer and whose sole purpose in reading is evaluation. Sharing of
48 Writing Across the Curriculum
academic writing among students in a class transforms the writing
situation. The writing becomes “authentic” (Edelsky,1986) in that
the writer writes in order to create and communicate meaning.
When students care more about their writing, they work to make
their ideas clearer to the audience and thus the ideas become
clearer to the students themselves.
The opportunity to educate their peers about a topic allows
students “authority” in the sense of being an author. Freedom of
topic choice enhances this authority by allowing them to establish
some turf (Graves, 1983) within the field in an area personally
meaningful to them. We should urge students to “start where they
are”(Lofland and Lofland, 1984) in terms of topic selection, using
their personal histories as a way of identifying potential areas of
interest within a field of study, thus maximizing the tranformative
potential of the class.
Written response demonstrates the social context of learning
within a field, and creates a community within which honest
dialogue can take place. As students build on and react to each
other’s ideas, they enter into a collaborative conversation with
other minds. This free exchange of ideas introduces them to the
process of academic thinking.
Most instructors recognize the value of academic dialogue and
try to encourage oral discussion within their classes. Public writing
and written response is a natural extension of this concept, but
provides several advantages over classroom discussions.
Written response provides an equitable way to share student
writing and ideas in a classroom situation. Research suggests that
men tend to dominate oral discussions. Thorne, Kramarae and
Henley (1983,17) attribute this not to any natural passivity on the
part of women, but to “the mechanisms, such as interruption, [and]
The Circle
inattention to topics
women’s silence in
everyone’s voice has
anonymity increases
equally valued.
49
women raise which men use to control
mixed sex talk.” In a written exchange,
an equal chance to be heard. The option of
the chance that all contributions will be
The process of writing for a public forum encourages the writer
to reflect on content. Applebee (1984) cites four advantages of
written over oral discourse in promoting thinking. The permanence
of the written word allows for revision and reflection, while the
need for writing to communicate across space and time demands
explicitness. The conventional forms of written discourse provide
resources for organizing and thinking through relationships among
ideas. Finally, the active, recursive nature of writing allows for
exploration of the implications of otherwise unexamined assumptions. The writing of short papers to share in class encourages
students to consider how their pieces will be received and reflect
on the implications of their material.
Suggestions for Implementation
Allow students freedom to write about subjects they care about.
Personal connections increase the chance that course material will
transform personal understandings. Lofland and Lofland (1984)
point to a long tradition of social science researchers who have
used their personal histories as starting points for research. They
caution that, “without a foundation in personal sentiment, all the
rest easily becomes so much realistic, hollow cant.” (10)
Keep papers relatively short (no more than five pages) to allow
for more responses in a shorter time period and to avoid reader
fatigue. Position or reaction papers which assume greater personal
voice are better suited to this type of activity than more traditional
research papers.
50 Writing Across the Curriculum
A climate of acceptance in our classrooms encourages expression of differing points of view and free exchange of ideas.
Welcome diverse voices and encourage students to bring private
literacies into a public forum, creating a space where course
material can interact with and shape personal truth.
Bringing circles of written response into the content classroom
requires changes in the type and frequency of writing assigned, and
larger changes in our thinking about student potential. We need to
turn away from deficit models, that focus on what students cannot
do, and begin to look at what students do know and can contribute.
Change is always difficult, but the potential rewards are great.
Public Spaces, Personal Voices
One of my composition students wrote, “To write to be able to
expand on ideas and to clear our minds seems too easy to be a
course.” Another said, “Words to me are no longer words, they are
feelings.” He said in writing he is “running toward the truth.” I do
not believe these matters are peripheral to education. As Toby
Fulwiler (1990) notes, “self knowledge provides the motivation for
whatever other knowledge an individual learns and absorbs... In
the end, all knowledge is related.” (261) Or as one of his students
put it, “I put myself into it and I write well. It bothers me when
people tell me to make it less personal—to take me out of it. I’m
afraid I can’t write unless I am in the paper somehow.”
“The greatest lie of all,” says Chiseri-Strater (199lb), is “that
education itself should be neutral, that education should be separated from personal and private knowing, that education should
transform students’ ideas without transforming students themselves.” Academic discourse communities grow out of real dialogue, engaged reading and committed writing. They can become
The Circle
51
an extension of the private literacies all students bring to our
classrooms. Yet, unless a course is structured to foster the concept
of community, such discourse communities remain the province of
professional scholars writing in academic journals. The circle
taught me that communities which support literacy growth and
conditions which allow course material to transform students lives
happen when we see the personal as relevant to the educational
endeavor and provide public space for private voices.
References:
Applebee, Arthur (1984) “Writing and Reasoning” Review of
Educational Research 54 (4) 577-596.
Chiseri-Strater, Elizabeth (199la) Academic Literacies: The Private
and Public Discourse of University Students Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann
Books ”Literacy and Lies: Examining Our
Myths, Finding Our Truths” Talk given at conference
“Teaching Reading and Writing for the 90’s.” University of NH, October
19, 1991.
Edelsky, Carole (1986) Habia Una Vez: Writing in a Bilingual
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Program. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
○
Fulwiler, Toby (1990) “Journals Across the Disciplines” in Newkirk,
(1997)
Thomas, (ed.) To Compose: Teaching Writing in High School
and
Back
in Second
the Circle
College,
Edition Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Graves,
Donald
(1983)
Writing:
Children atclass
Work.
I wrote
“The
Circle”
aboutTeachers
my firstand
composition
at
Portsmouth,
NH:
Heinemann
Books.
Plymouth State which I taught in the fall of 1991. I was aware
then that it was an article which could be read on two levels. First,
Greene,
Maxine(1988)The
Dialectic
of describes
Freedom.a practice
New
one can read
it on a practical level.
The article
York:Teachers
which
could be implemented in any classroom where writing is
College
used.
But thePress.
article also evokes a response on a more philosophiLofland, John and Lyn Lofland (1984) Analyzing Social Settings:
A
Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis. Belmont, CA:
52 Writing Across the Curriculum
cal level, as it gets to the heart of what I believe writing instruction
is for and the place of the personal in education. After rereading
it, I feel the need to respond on both levels.
On the practical level, I have used the circle to a greater or
lesser extent with every composition class I have taught since I
came to PSC. Classes are collections of human beings. As I
implied in the article, they tend to take on a personality as a group
which is more than the sum of the individuals, including as it must,
the web of relationships between them. Different classes have
responded to the circle in different ways according to their personalities and needs. All have found it valuable, but not all in the way
I described in this article. Some were much more focused on the
simple need for response to their work than they were in engaging
in an extended conversation. One additional factor which has
emerged since I wrote the article is that students (most often
males) have expressed to me that the circle helps them to feel more
secure in the writing community because it gives them a sense of
where their writing stands in relation to others. This often gives
them the confidence to begin to share their writing more publicly.
My response to the article on a deeper, more philosophical,
level is one of recognition. I quite simply still believe these things
to be true. I still believe I am teaching people first and my subject
second. I have come to believe that owning knowledge on a more
personal level through writing is the best way I know to bring us
closer to truth. I still believe, more strongly than ever, that
“conditions which allow course material to transform students’
lives happen when we see the personal as relevant to the educational endeavor and provide public spaces for private voices.” I
still believe, that for however much we might at times wish it to
be otherwise, all genuine learning must transform the person in
some way. Knowledge cannot be held apart to be deposited
untainted in the learner. Writing cannot be a matter of fitting
The Circle
53
words into a predetermined form. All knowledge, all writing must
be transformed through and by the learner in a process which is
messy, wondrous and unpredictably human. And I would not have
it any other way.
In the five years since I wrote “The Circle,” I have become
more a part of the community here at PSC. I am now more aware
of how controversial the article is. An article taking issue with
many of my assumptions was printed in the next issue of the WAC
journal. But for all of the negative and positive response I have
received, I am grateful. Whether or not my readers would agree
with me, they have heard me and have responded to the essential
message of the article. I am grateful that the article continues to
generate its own concentric circles.
54 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1992)
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter
Larry Spencer
Can science be fun? Why not! Often, as depicted by the media,
science is a serious business and scientists serious persons. Who
among you thinks of Spock as a fun-loving, carefree soul? Not I.
He may have a dry sense of humor and those pointy little ears to
offset somewhat the seriousness of his visage, but let’s face it, he
is all work and very little play. I don’t think science should be seen
in that light and to partially change that view, in the fall of 1988,
I had my invertebrate zoology class, a lower division majors
course, publish an in-house newsletter.
With me as the chief editor and publisher and the students as
cub reporters, the class published The Inveterate Invertebrate
Reporter, a weekly newsletter devoted to the life and times of the
invertebrates. Issue one began with a welcome editorial and a brief
biography of the professor, both of which I wrote to inform the
students of their future duties and what notable events characterized my life. In that issue I described the three functions of the
newsletter: 1. to describe the anatomy, physiology, ecology, and
behavior of the different groups of invertebrates; 2. to describe the
lives of biologists who chose to study invertebrates; and 3. to
provide the members of the class with a chance to develop their
talents as writers.
Subsequent issues of the newsletter had three sections, an
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter
55
article on an invertebrate group in the phylum we were studying
that week, a brief biography of a famous invertebrate zoologist,
and a review of a book dealing with the phylum we were studying.
In addition each issue usually included biographies of the students
who had written the articles that week, and bibliographic citations
for sources the students used in writing their articles. If time and
space permitted, I also included either scanned or hand-drawn
pictures of invertebrates. To liven things up, I wrote the headlines
for the articles:
"Forams: Our Testy Protozoan Friends" (this group secrets a
calcareous test)
"The Molluscs: First-class Foot Shufflers" (molluscs are classified according to the type of foot they have)
"Those Silver Threads Amongst the Gold May Have Been
Nematomorphans" (these creatures are called thread worms)
"On the Inside Looking Out: N.A. Croll Takes a New View on
the Ecology of Parasites" (Harvard Press has a hit on its hands)
"Water Fleas: Even a Lake Has its Problems"
The Publication Process
Figure l shows a student-edited copy of the issue that was
published on the 21st of October. I will now describe the process
used to get to that stage. Each week three students were assigned
to write articles. I told two of the students which group and person
to write about, but the third student was free to choose any book,
as long as it related to the group being studied. The articles were
due in my hands on Tuesday and were then given to three other
56 Writing Across the Curriculum
paste figure 1 of 2
paste figure 2 of 2
58 Writing Across the Curriculum
students who were supposed to proofread and comment on the
article. The annotations on Figure l are the student editorial
comments. They were to return the copy with their comments and
corrections by Wednesday. The authors were then asked to give
me their corrected copy on Thursday. Thursday night I put the
newsletter together and xeroxed copies Friday morning before
class. Students submitted copy to me as an ASCII text file on a 5
1/4" diskette. I used First Publisher, a low cost desktop publishing
program for the IBM computers. The program can use style sheets
for newsletters or other common publications, but since each issue
had varying amounts of text, I pretty much had to paste-up each as
though it were the very first of a new series. The drawings were
either scanned and then pasted into the appropriate spot, or space
was left empty and I later penciled them in on the final copy.
The articles were roughly 200-400 words long. Authors were
noted either in the headline or at the end of the article. When
students failed to submit their work on time, their space was left
empty, except for a slightly caustic note:
This space is deliberately blank. Copy from a class
member failed to arrive in time to meet the publication
deadline. The editor regrets the omission and hopes that
it will not happen again.
The Editor
This happened only twice.
Evaluation
No evaluation, objective or subjective, was done on this experiment. In the first place, I did it because it was fun. In the second
place, I subscribe to the school of writing that believes that the
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter
59
more you write the better you get, particularly if you get feedback
through reading the work of peers and comparing your product to
theirs and by listening to what peers say about your work. Thus I
expected improvement. As each student had to write one of each
type of article for the newsletter, he or she ended up writing at least
600-1,200 words for this part of the class.
In retrospect, there are a few things I will do differently if and
when I do this again. The first is that I would write a brief guide
for the student editors. This guide would include a list of things for
them to comment on as they read the articles. As shown by Figure
l, most of the editorial comments were about simple errors:
spelling, lack of italicization of scientific names, etc. The comments on structure and overall competence were too general; they
didn’t say what was good or bad. Second, I would lengthen the
process. Although the students had enough time in the initial stage
of composing the text of their article, the time period between
submission and publication was too short. In as much as I was the
paste-up person, artist, headline writer, and printer, I spent many
Thursday nights staring into a computer screen trying to integrate
the various components. Sometimes this was a very difficult task.
The reader might ask “Why didn’t you have the students do the
page layout, paste-up and artwork?” True, it would have been
much easier for me if I had handled it that way, but the purpose
of the newsletter was to provide an outlet for student writing and
to have the students read material from non-textbook sources, not
to learn how to use a computer program to produce a newsletter.
I was worried that if students had to do the mechanics of newsletter
production, they would lose sight of the main objectives.
Would I do it again? Sure, but I don’t like doing the same thing
year after year, so it will probably be a few years before the
newsletter gets resurrected. Until then, there are plenty of other
60 Writing Across the Curriculum
ways to make science fun and at the same time get students to
become better writers. How about having them write articles for a
scientific journal simulacrum, The Northern New England Journal
of Functional Zoology? Hm, maybe I’ll do that next.
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(1997)
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter—
A backwards glance
Should every piece of writing a student does be graded and
corrected? I don’t believe so and much of the writing I have my
students do is read, but not always graded or corrected. My
contention is that writing is partly a skill and like any skill, practice
makes perfect. I also believe that writing exercises should be fun.
Many PSC faculty would also agree with that contention and the
WAC Journal has published some of those “fun” exercises. Lastly,
I believe that students should compare his/her work with that of
his/her peers. This essay demonstrates how I followed those
principles a few years ago and where I have gone in the present.
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter was an attempt on my
part to provide pertinent writing experiences for lower division
biology majors. I asked students to find information on invertebrates, invertebrate zoologists and books written about the different invertebrate groups. The topics were specific rather than
general and thus forced the student to not only write, but to use
library skills to find appropriate materials. The newsletters were
published on a weekly basis and thus provided the author with a
captive audience (his/her peers) and at the same time provided the
his/her peers with direct evidence of how their work compared to
The Inveterate Invertebrate Reporter
61
others in the class.
Did it work as promised? Yes. Did I continue the process in
subsequent semesters? No. Why not? A long time ago, I decided
that one way to avoid burnout was to not teach my classes the
same way each and every year. Now, one could say that by
sticking to a pattern one would use up less energy, which might be
true, yet at the same time, by sticking to a pattern, one gets stuck
in that pattern and never explores other options. Thus, even
though the newsletter idea was fun and successful, I have moved
onto other ways of getting students to write.
Today that new approach involves the use of a homepage on
the internet. Students are assigned topics to research, books to
read, etc., and then are asked to send me written material via email. I then incorporate their contributions on the homepage for
the class they are enrolled in. A specific example is appropriate.
This semester I am teaching Perspectives on Wilderness. It is an
upper level “I” course. Students are required to read four books
and write two papers. In addition to those requirements I want
them to read other books and written materials. With the requirements as given, asking each student to read additional books would
be an onerous task. To accomplish that goal, I simply assign each
student a chapter in a book and ask them to write a short synopsis
of that chapter. I then take each of the chapter summaries and put
them on a homepage for that book. Each synopsis is a signed
synopsis. All students are asked to read the other synopses so they
can get a first hand feeling for a sense of the book and at the same
time have a chance to compare their writing abilities with those of
their peers.
How do I know that they will read what the rest of the class has
written? I have no way of certifying their perusal of the homepage
material, but one component of their class grade is that they must
rank written and oral contributions of their peers to the class. The
62 Writing Across the Curriculum
form I use for this assignment indicates that they must read their
peers’ work on the homepage. Hopefully when they fill out that
form, they have done that before developing their rankings.
Another way that I involve students in comparing their work
with that of other class members is that I have them bring a rough
draft of each major term paper to class one week before the final
draft is due. I pair the students and have each pair exchange drafts.
As they read the draft they are to fill in a feedback form that they
return to the other student, along with their oral response. The
form asks very specific questions.
Anyone interested in viewing this approach to getting students
to write can visit my personal homepage and click on the links to
either History of Science or Perspectives on Wilderness. My
homepage is at: http://oz.plymouth.edu/lts/
(1991)
Modeling How We Think When We Write
Roy Andrews
All of us have had the frustrating experience of reading “final
drafts” of student papers that are filled with underdeveloped ideas,
unclear sentences, unnecessary words, and punctuation errors. If
we ask these students how they went about making their papers, in
most cases we find that they did not revise and edit. Many students
do not leave time to even read their papers before passing them in.
This practice is generally interpreted by experienced writers as
procrastination. I have found, however, talking with students who
visit the Reading/Writing Center, that, in fact, the reason they
leave no time for rewriting is not procrastination, but lack of
experience. They either do not know how to revise and edit, or
they think adult writers do not need to. They are being logical
when they leave no time for activities they do not know how to do
or think they are grown up enough to skip.
Having discovered this, I regularly show students how experienced adult writers produce publishable writing. Last fall, after
writing a Clock article, I collected all my drafts. I share these with
students and talk about what I was thinking when I made certain
changes and decisions. Students invariably are surprised and fascinated. I show them the first scribbles I made, the initial rushed
“outline,” and my struggle for a first sentence:
64 Writing Across the Curriculum
This is the time of year...(“No, sounds like Christmas.”)
When I was ten years old...(“No, sounds like ‘when I was a
boy...”’)
There was one kid...(“No, sounds too slangy.”)
Paul Williamson batted over .600 in the little league... (“No,
sounds like a biography.”)
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about baseball and writing...
(“That’s it. I’m not sure why, but that’s it!”)
At this point the students have already learned that my article
evolved from scribbled thoughts and that my mode of thinking
when writing was trial and error.
Next I show them my rough first draft, which I wrote quickly
on the computer. I talk about the revisions I made in pencil: circled
blocks of text to be omitted or moved, new sentences and paragraphs written between the lines or in the margins. I show them the
draft after that with sentence and word changes written in pencil on
the fair copy, and the draft after that with just a few small
corrections. (“See,” I say, “here in this late draft I finally saw that
World Series should be capitalized. 1 never could have seen that
earlier when I had bigger things to think about.”)
And finally I show them the printed article cut from the
newspaper. They always are quiet as it sinks in that this nice
looking printed article did not come from me easily and fully
formed.
I am envisioning a college where students know that all of their
professors struggle with words when writing. I am imagining a
college where the students regularly see that all of their professors
Modeling How We Think When We Write
65
consider and reconsider, imagine effects and test them out, weigh
options and make decisions every time they write. Granted, everyone writes in his or her own way: some do multiple drafts; others
write more slowly and edit as they go; some make all their changes
on hard copy where they readily show; still others work on
computer screens or in their heads where only the last of the
experiments, reconsiderations, and fine tunings show. But everyone who writes well does a lot of deliberating, and it is this mode
of thinking that, most unfortunately for inexperienced writers, does
not show in the printed pages students read in books, magazines
and newspapers, both in and out of classes.
Students are taught to revere the clear, final thinking of accomplished writers, but they are rarely shown or even asked to imagine
the rough experimental thinking that was done by these same
writers during the act of writing. They cannot see how the best
writers thought while writing, so they do not know how to do it
themselves. They imagine most professional writers got it right
first try, so that is what they attempt.
Students, I believe, will model the mode of thinking that results
in fine writing if their professors regularly share that mode with
them. Even if professors share only a page or two of an article,
book, or written speech, if they are willing to demonstrate how
they thought while working, this will improve the way their
students write. For many students, these demonstrations by their
professors will be an encouraging revelation.
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“You mean your writing doesn’t just come out perfect?”
(1997)
An Afterword
My sense is that not as many students at PSC now, six years
after I wrote “Modeling How We Think When We Write,” believe
66 Writing Across the Curriculum
that good writers get what they want to say down right on the first
try. It’s just a sense, I know, without any objective empirical
backing, but a solid enough sense to encourage me to speculate on
what might have brought about such a change in belief.
Speculation #1— Over the past six years there has been an
increase in entering PSC students who have practiced trial-anderror thinking while writing in secondary school. More secondary
school teachers are teaching that it is normal to have rough early
drafts. (My daughter’s third grade Plymouth elementary school
teacher taught her to call early drafts “sloppy copy” and expect
them as part of her writing process.) Increased access to computers in secondary school has made teaching this kind of revising and
rethinking much easier to do.
Speculation #2— More PSC professors across the curriculum
are giving writing assignments with multiple stages, and therefore
rethinking, structured into them. Some of these professors read
their students’ early drafts and comment, inspiring the students to
rethink, while other professors have been successful requiring that
early drafts be read by peers (either in peer review sessions or out
of class) or by a writing consultant at the College Writing Center.
Speculation #3— More PSC professors tell or show their
students that when they themselves write they do a lot of trial-anderror thinking. Some professors share stories of their own experience writing in order to rationalize assignments they are giving
with multiple stages structured into them, and some professors
write assigned papers along with their students and then report on
the deliberation and trial-and-error thinking they did while writing.
Just a couple of hours ago, I reread my article “Modeling How
We Think When We Write.” I felt compelled to respond, and yet
when I tried to write this afterword I was frozen. It took me a
Modeling How We Think When We Write
67
while to realize, sitting on the couch in the College Writing Center,
pencil in hand, clipboard on my lap, (now I’m revising on a
computer) that I was stuck because I was thinking I could get this
written right on the first try. It took me a while to really listen to
my self of six years ago and proceed, as a good writer should, by
trial and error.
68 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1990)
From Writing to Discussion
Katharine G. Fralick
The purpose of this paper is to consider ways of using writing
to promote student discussion in the college classroom. A survey
of the literature shows an abundance of material on writing and
discussion for the elementary level, little at the middle and secondary grades, and only a few references specifically for discussion at
the college level. Elementary teachers often have trouble with
chatter and talking in the classroom, but in undergraduate college
courses, instructors often have difficulty getting the students to talk
and share ideas. Since classroom discussion is an integral part of
the collaborative effort in education, it is critical to utilize strategies such as writing to enhance the discussion process.
In college level classes, students are expected to read chapters
in text books, articles, journals, and other materials and be prepared to discuss them in class. Discussions are helpful in learning
content material and are usually dominated by the instructor. Other
discussions are conducted to allow students to share ideas, insights,
or observations and are not dominated by the instructor. Sometimes college-level students are also expected to work in collaborative groups to complete projects. Often it is difficult to get
students to have conversation without teacher question, student
answer, teacher question, student answer, etc. These are not real
discussions but actually oral quizzes. No student wants to be the
From Writing to Discussion
69
first to say anything.
As stated, different methods of promoting discussion were
researched. They are as follows:
Methods
1. Discussion:
Without pre-thought or any writing exercises, students are
asked for opinions or thoughts about a subject, usually one-onone (teacher, student, teacher, student).
2. Pre-Writes:
Students write in their notebooks for three to five minutes on
a theme, problem, idea, or question given by the instructor. The
instructor models this and also writes. When the time is up,
students are asked to share their thoughts. At first students need
to be encouraged to respond. After doing this several times
students are not as reluctant to talk, since having their written thoughts to refer to provides confidence. All students
are provided an oppor- tunity to talk about what they write
in the subject. Comments from the instructor are minimal.
Pre-writes are not collected.
3. Pre-Writes with Partners:
Both students discuss the issues and one writes comments
down;
these comments are shared with the class. The same
structure is
used as in individual pre-writes.
4. Small Group Discussions:
Students do a pre-write, then divide into groups to discuss an
issue, problem, or project. One student serves as the scribe and
another the speaker. Groups are self-selected or the class is
divided by the teacher. The purpose is to have different
students interact- ing each time. Before coming back to the
70 Writing Across the Curriculum
class, the scribe re-reads and adds to the report. This also
provides student-to-student interaction.
The above techniques were used with undergraduate and graduate classes.
Results
In using any of these techniques the instructor explained the
“rules of the game” to the class. Whether the class is large or
small, the seating arrangement should be conducive to discussion.
(A circle or semi-circle where all students can see one another and
the instructor is best. The instructor should also be sitting in the
circle.)
Method one, “Discussion,” without pre-thought or pre-writes usually did not result in lively discussions but rather questions from
the instructor and one response from a student. Students were
hesitant to volunteer answers.
Method two, “Pre-Writes,” writing individually, for 3 to 5 minutes
on a topic or question without discussion before hand, resulted in
better conversational discussions and more students volunteering
to speak.
Method three, In “Partner Pre-Writes,” the partners had to discuss
what they were writing. When it was time to converse with the
entire class, they were prepared and less reluctant to speak.
Method four, “Group Pre-Writes” and small group discussions
were very successful. This resulted in good discussions and group
cohesiveness. Students took turns being the scribe, but usually all
the students took notes and were writing.
From Writing to Discussion
71
During the rest of the semester, using the above techniques, we
had lively and academic discussions. Later, I explained to the
classes what I was doing and why. I wanted to know from them
which methods they thought were best to promote discussion in the
classroom. The students thought any group method which included
discussion with pre-writes took away the fear of talking to the
whole class. The small group discussions with writing were voted
the best because they made it easier and less threatening to voice
opinions. They also liked the individual pre-writes because they let
them collect their thoughts before they spoke. In addition, the pre
writes provided a level of confidence as well as a way to focus
thoughts. We concluded by talking about collaborative education
and writing; my hope is the students will use some of these
techniques in their own teaching.
Rowe (1986) best sums up why group discussion is so important:
○ ○
A complex thought system requires a great deal of
shared experience and conversation. It is in talking about
what we have done and observed and in arguing about
what we make of our experiences, that ideas multiply,
become refined, and finally produce new questions and
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
further explorations.
○ ○ ○
What better way to encourage
these explorations than to use
(1997)
writing in the classroom?
From Partner and Group Pre-Writes to
Discussions
Seven years after publishing “From Writing to Discussion” I
am still having much success with pre-writes for getting productive
discussions going. Pre-Writes with Partners have been the most
72 Writing Across the Curriculum
successful of the methods I described in the 1990 article.
Since writing the article I have devised another method, Group
Pre-Writes, that has been the most successful of all. In Group PreWrites a small cooperative group of usually 3-5 students discuss
the issues being studied, and one of those students writes comments down. These comments are later shared with the whole
class. This new method has been very successful at encouraging
students to recall information they have read or gathered and work
with it, and then share their thoughts with the whole class.
The pre-write method has also been successful with older
elementary and junior high school students. I have taught the
partner and group pre-write methods to upper level Methods
students, and they have gone out to the public schools and used the
technique to promote discussions among elementary and junior
high students in all classes: science, social studies, English, and
others. The college students report that it has been working well,
and so it would be nice to do research on the effects of pre-writes
in promoting discussions in 4th through 8th grade classes.
(1994)
Exploring Voice in Business Writing
Daniel P. Moore
Abstract
Many upper division business courses focus on applying the
concepts and techniques studied throughout the undergraduate
curriculum. The case method, which is often used to teach upper
division business courses, exposes students to complex situations,
aids in developing their analytical skills, and provides students
with an opportunity to offer integrative solutions. An assortment
of writing assignments for these case courses can enhance learning.
Writing business memos and reports from a variety of organizational perspectives and to a number of organizational audiences
enables students to explore the realities of crafting business documents meant to communicate and convince. The use of various
perspectives and audiences challenges students to recognize the
impact of organizational position in creating and maintaining a
voice when writing.
Assignments that Permit an Exploration of Voice
By design, many of Plymouth State College’s upper division
business courses are integrative. As an example, to enroll in
Administrative Policy students need to have completed courses in
74 Writing Across the Curriculum
finance, accounting, and operations. These prerequisites provide
the necessary conceptual background for a more comprehensive
investigation of the complex business situations presented in a
policy course.
To facilitate understanding and permit students some practical
experience, a policy course uses a case approach. A business case
presents realistic information from a particular organization and
emphasizes analytical discussions of this situation. A case requires
students to sift through factual information, to evaluate a variety of
issues, and to develop a range of possible solutions (Christensen,
1987).
Students use various methods for case analysis. Open class
discussions, small group reviews, and group or individual presentations provide different approaches to case evaluation. One of the
more frequently used review techniques is the written case analysis
(Penrose, Rasberry & Myers, 1989).
Although there are no
“ironclad procedures” for a written case analysis, the papers are
usually segmented into three sections: issues, analysis, and recommendations (Thompson & Strickland, 1987, p. 273). Generally,
students write rather dry formula evaluations. However, creative
writing assignments that mimic organizational situations offer
students an opportunity for realistic decision making.
Students can be required to assume the role of a particular
character in the case and to write business memos and reports that
reflect their understanding of that character’s position and organizational situation. Composing documents from a variety of different perspectives to a number of potential audiences allows students to experience the organizational realities surrounding communication. Thus, assignments can challenge students to recognize the impact of organizational position in creating and maintaining a voice when writing.
Exploring Voice in Business Writing
75
Form
PSC’s General Education program requires students to take
first year Composition and a designated writing course in their
major field. For students majoring in business this writing course
is Organizational Communications (OC), which exposes students
to various forms of business writing. OC assignments stress the
highly stylized business approach to writing. Students learn to
design documents for impact by using a direct language, choosing
simple words to fully convey ideas and concepts, and arranging
information in an easily followed professional format.
Although not a prerequisite, most business students take OC
before registering for Administrative Policy. Doing writing assignments designed to capture the realism inherent in the Administrative Policy course’s case approach, students create the stylized
mainstays of business communications, memos and reports, which
reflect their analysis and recommendations of the case material.
Therefore, students build upon writing techniques learned in OC
and practice writing through their curriculum.
Content
A writer’s audience is his or her reader (Hacker,1992). Choice
of an audience often influences the tone, approach, and language
of a document (Crews & Schor, 1989). Because business people
often write to particular persons, they generally know a great deal
about the values, desires, and special interests of their audiences,
and compose accordingly.
As stated earlier, a business case provides general conditions,
background material, and particular facts concerning an organizational situation. Each person or group mentioned in a case
76 Writing Across the Curriculum
represents a potential audience. Writing assignments that require
students to communicate their case evaluations to various people
or groups from the case forces students to recognize the values,
desires and interests of these different audiences, and use a communication style or voice which connects with the particular
audience.
For instance, students could be assigned to assume the role of
an outside consultant and write a report to the organization’s chief
executive. Students would then have to structure their report to
reflect the realities surrounding the situation. This requires an
analysis of the case and an assessment of the audience. A
primary consideration would be the values and attitudes of an
executive receiving the report. The report must incorporate these
values.
A slight shift in the assignment exposes students to a different
communication style or voice. Instead of the outside consultant,
the student’s role can be that of a subordinate communicating with
the chief executive as his or her superior. This situation requires
students to be aware of the significant status and power differences
that exist between a subordinate and his or her boss. The facts are
identical. The executive receiving the report is identical. However, the tone, approach, and language must reflect the nuances of
the subordinate’s voice. The consultant can be blunt, direct, and
formal using his or her expertise as justification for his or her
voice. The subordinate needs a different voice, a voice which
recognizes the on-going relationship of authority and responsibility
inherent in the superior and subordinate dyad, and balances duty
with respect.
A third role-play allows students to explore yet another voice.
Students can be required to write to a subordinate. This forces an
awareness of what it is like to be the boss. Students experience the
Exploring Voice in Business Writing
77
contradictions surrounding management, leadership, and authority.
Should the writer inform, cajole, plead, or demand? The voice will
communicate the writer’s understanding of this position and situation.
Example
Consider the following scenario. Gerry Plotnik, the division
superintendent at Sharon Steel’s Posner Works in Farrell, Pennsylvania, has just received a letter from Kaiser Refractories, stating
that Kaiser is shutting down its brickworks in Warren, Ohio, and
therefore, will no longer supply the refractories Sharon Steel uses
to line its furnaces and soaking pits. Plotnik knows that he can buy
a lower grade but more expensive refractory from HarbisonWalker in Buffalo. Plotnik has multiple concerns. One is that,
because the Harbison-Walker refractory linings are of lesser quality than Kaiser, they need to be constantly monitored for wear and
replaced more often. A second concern is that his production
supervisors are currently paid bonuses based upon output, and the
down time associated with monitoring and relining furnaces takes
away from these bonuses. A third concern is that his boss, Henry
Tevans, the Executive Vice-President of Operations, has instituted
a quality assurance program that focuses on producing the highest
grades of defect-free steel, which can only be maintained when
furnaces are kept well insulated. Finally, Plotnik’s own goals for
Posner Works are to be Sharon Steel’s lowest cost steel producer.
Realistic writing assignments would have students role-playing
Plotnik and composing memos or reports to the production supervisors and Tevans concerning the impact of Kaiser’s closing.
Students must consider Plotnik’s plight: how to convince the
production supervisors to engage in practices that may lower their
bonuses and to inform Tevans that production costs are definitely
going up, while quality may decline? These two distinctly different audiences require distinctly different voices.
78 Writing Across the Curriculum
Summary
The realism of the case approach can be converted into the
practice of creating a writer’s voice. The above discussion has
focused on the Business Department’s Administrative Policy course.
However, any course that uses cases has the potential for allowing
students the opportunity to experiment with a variety of voices.
The only requirement is that of multiple audiences. Students can
then be assigned a variety of roles and learn to write with a variety
of voices.
References
Christensen, C. R. (1987). Teaching the case method. Boston,
Massachusetts: Harvard Business School.
Crews, F., & Schor, S. (1989). The Borzoi handbook for writers.
(2nd ed.). New York: Knopf.
Hacker, D. (1982). A writer’s reference. (2nd ed.). Boston,
Massachusetts: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Penrose, J., Rasberry, R., & Myers, R. ( 1989). Advanced business
communication. Boston,(1997)
Massachusetts: PWS-KENT Publishing.
WAC Reflection
— ‘Unsticking
the Voice’
Thompson
A., Jr., & Strickland
III, A. (1984). Strategic
management: Concepts and cases. (3rd ed.). Plano, Texas: Business
Publications,
Inc. my article and chatting with Roy Andrews,
After re-reading
I realized something about the writer’s voice. Voice differs as
situations differ, but only when the writer recognizes these differences. The gist of my article was to explain how I structured an
Exploring Voice in Business Writing
79
exercise that attempted to make students aware of and to allow
them to practice with various voices. I mention this because I had
some trouble getting students to follow the assignments describe in
my article. A number of students would not follow the letter of the
assignment. They simply could not change their voice. They would
continue to write to me, ignoring the requirement that they roleplay and draft letters, memos, and reports to various important
stockholders in the assigned cases. It was just impossible for them
to convert to another voice. They were students writing to an
instructor; nothing could change that fact. Their voices were stuck.
Therefore, my response to revisiting this article is this: How to
unstick the voices of the non-complying students?
Even before this refiection, I had been working on this
problem of unsticking voices. I started requiring students to do
more than one of these role-play assignrnents. This allowed them
to receive feedback and gave them the possibility of adjusting their
voices. I also permitted students to resubmit assignments, hoping
that the second time around the concept would take hold. For many
students these strategies worked. They were able to shake loose
from the idea that they were merely responding to an instructor,
immerse themselves in the case material, and write accordingly.
Still there were a few students that just refused to let go of the fact
that they were students writing to an instructor. They could not
change their voice. It was just too ingrained.
The insight gained from this reflection is maybe students
shouldn’t write to me. I mean, I should not be the one who reads
these assignments. I could extend the role-play, and have students
write to other students. This would unstick students from their
student to instructor voice. Of course, new dilemmas arise. New
voice options exist for sticking: student to student, friend to friend,
and that persistent problem of evaluation. I need to talk and write
about this with Roy, Michelle, Robert, and the other WAC members.
80 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
The QCS Method
Joel Funk
During my early years at Plymouth State College, I encountered two clearly related problems: first, many students had apparently not done the assigned reading prior to class; and second,
when I attempted to provoke class discussion, a relatively small
percentage of students seemed willing to participate. Some means
was needed to ensure that the material was read and to democratize
class discussions.
My colleague Boyce Ford provided one very workable solution
to both problems: the QCS. A QCS, which stands for Question,
Criticism, or Statement, is essentially a reaction to some aspect of
the assigned reading, thought out and written at home, and due
when the reading is due.
Assume the assignment deals with Freud’s theory of personality. I tell the class that, inevitably, they will come upon at least one
idea (if not more) that strikes them as either good, bad, inspired,
bizarre, or provocative. They are asked to respond to this idea.
They can ask a question about Freud, criticize him, offer a
comment or statement, make a comparison to some other theorist,
offer an illustration from their own experience, cite an experiment
or an observation that supports/disconfirms Freud, and so on. The
important things are that they a. think critically about Freud, and
The QCS Method
81
b. write down what they think.
This gives me several options for the following class. With 815 students ready with prepared QCS in hand, I can begin by
covering Freud, leaving the latter portion of the class for QCS
reading (or paraphrasing) and ensuing discussion. Alternatively, I
could cover the entire Freud chapter, albeit in somewhat haphazard
fashion, by plunging directly into the QCS’s. Any major points that
do not get covered can be brought up at the end of class. If time
is short, I won’t have QCS’s read in class that day, but I will read
them on my own before the next class. I can then single out the
better ones for comment during the following class. This last
technique guarantees quality but does violate the principle of
democracy.
Obviously a student has to have read all or a good chunk of the
reading in order to write a sensible QCS. And, should certain shy
students not volunteer their QCS, I feel justified in calling on them
to share their ideas, thus solving the participation problem. I find
that students who hesitate to speak up in class spontaneously,
perhaps feeling “on the spot,” are much more assertive when it
comes to reading a pre-thought-out paper.
On occasion students will ask not to read their QCS on the
grounds that either the same points have been already covered by
a previous QCS, or the material is too personal, a situation that
often comes up in “soft” Psychology courses. I am amazed,
though, that many students feel comfortable enough to write about
very personal issues (e.g., having been abused as a child) as long
as the QCS is for the professor’s eyes only.
I have on occasion used other techniques which also involve
“forcing” the students to write reactions to the book, but usually
they involve doing exercises prefabricated for the students by the
82 Writing Across the Curriculum
textbook author (e.g., analyzing dreams for the presence of anima/
animus figures). Although these exercises ought to generate enthusiasm and sometimes do, students too often resist being constrained. The advantage of the QCS is that it lets the student
choose the topic for exploration, thus ensuring a greater likelihood
of ego-involvement. In fact, many QCS’s revolve around the
students’ own experiences vis-a-vis the reading (e.g., bulimia,
depression, birth order, suicide, drug use, and peak experience).
Some Nuts and Bolts Issues
I use an evaluation system I refer to as “semi-grading.” Students receive five points for doing a “decent” job and getting the
QCS in on time. They can then earn up to five additional points by
writing a particularly good QCS, although two-three bonus points
are more common. Examples of QCS’s of varying quality are
included below. Students who volunteer to read their papers in
class are given a slight edge in grading; the occasional less-thanadequate paper earns fewer than five points; and late papers lose
the option for bonus points. Dr. Ford argues that late papers should
receive no credit at all since the major purpose of the QCS is to
provide a basis for discussion. While conceding this point, I still
feel that the written work itself deserves some credit. The teacher
clearly has options here.
I do not number grade QCS’s, feeling that this focuses attention too atomistically on the points earned and not on the overall
quality of the essay. Instead, I employ a more impressionistic
system, akin to letter grades: an adequate QCS receives a “check,”
a better than average QCS a “check” with a stripe across it, a very
good QCS a “check +,” and the rare superb QCS a “+.” The
occasional inferior QCS, exhibiting little thought or care, receives
a “check” with a squiggle (the mathematical symbol for “almost”).
The QCS Method
83
Only when I compute the grades at the end of the term do I
transform the checks into numerical grades.
Another problem is class size. Above I noted that I aimed for
8-15 QCS’s per class, but what happens in a class of 30 or 35?
Since most chapters require two to three classes for adequate
coverage, I typically divide the class in half. For example, assume
I have 30 students in my Tuesday/Thursday Abnormal Psychology
class. Fifteen papers are due Tuesday, the other 15 on Thursday.
Assignment to groups is usually alphabetical.
Over a semester, a typical upper-level course may require as
many as a dozen QCS’s, the combined point total often equaling
or more than equaling the points earnable on an exam in that
course. Thus, I caution students that failure to submit QCS’s is
equivalent to getting an F or D on an exam.
Typically I allow students to miss or flub one or two QCS’s per
term. If 12 are assigned, I may take their 10 or 11 highest scores
and total them. This allows some flexibility. On the other hand,
students who do poorly on tests and ask for a way to bring up their
grade can be assigned extra QCS’s. One semester, in which I had
a class divided into two QCS groups, one ambitious student
handed in QCS’s for both groups, thus partially offsetting a
tendency to get C’s on exams.
The length of the QCS can be varied depending on the course.
Typically, a QCS will run from a minimum of half a page up to
a page or so. Some dedicated students seem to lose control and go
on for pages, running from idea to idea, although I try to remind
them to focus on a single pertinent theme! On the other hand, in
two honors courses dealing with Psychology and Film, the reaction
papers (one per film) were expected to be two typed pages or
longer, with a much more encompassing approach.
84 Writing Across the Curriculum
Edited Examples
The following edited examples were all written for the identical reading assignment, a chapter in Abnormal Psychology dealing
with personality disorders. I have received both better and worse
QCS’s than those presented here, but it seemed appropriate to pick
a set of QCS’s at random, to illustrate a “typical” crop of papers.
1. This “average” QCS (no bonus points) makes a point, but
there is nothing particularly insightful here; there are no
connections drawn. The student essentially confesses confusion over a distinction already made fairly clear in the text/
class. Furthermore, the writing itself is rather uninspired:
While reading . . . the obsessive-compulsive
personality disorder, I thought I was reading
about the obsessive-compulsive disorder .... The
only difference between them seems to be that
the o.c. disorder is rare and . . . stronger than
the o.c. personality disorder .... it is confusing
to distinguish between the two.
2. Slightly better (but no bonus points) is the following QCS
that
at least makes a connection, albeit a rather
obvious one. This
issue has been hotly debated not only
by psychologists, but by
the popular media for years:
I remember seeing a film in Intro Psych that
showed part of the ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment [a
famous study showing how children will model
aggressive behavior] .... I was ... wondering if
there have been any conclusive findings from
The QCS Method
85
studies of children and violence on TV ....
Perhaps children who are more violent to begin
with will be more likely to watch violent shows
on TV.
3. More interesting is the following QCS (two bonus points),
which relates the text material to the real-life situation:
Merton’s theory of anomie claims that societies which value material objects (and only
certain groups have such luxuries) acquire a
state of ‘anomie’ ... in disadvantaged groups ....
I am currently working on a project . . .
regarding adolescents . . . I recently spoke with
the detective of youth crime. He informed me
that one factor that leads adolescents toward
crime is economic pressures .... It is the
detective’s belief that these kids feel cheated
by the society and this is a major reason for
their behavior.
I frequently give extra credit to the student who can apply the
abstractions of the text to real-life situations in an appropriate way.
The writing style is also a bit more sophisticated than in the
examples cited previously.
4. Better yet (three+ bonus points) was a QCS which proposed
a somewhat original etiology for the “borderline” personality
disorder. After first describing his friend in some detail and
matching the
symptoms to the text, the student concludes:
Later on I discovered that his parents actually
encourage him to act out his moods instead of
86 Writing Across the Curriculum
repressing them .... I also found out that they
would punish or reinforce him on a completely
random basis, regardless of what he was doing.
This also lends support to the theory of modeling because he saw his parents being unpredictable, so in turn he became unpredictable.
Above and beyond points earned for being a good case study,
creativity deserves reward! Modeling theory had been proposed in
the text, but in another context; it had not been applied to the
borderline personality.
5. The best of the lot (3+ bonus points) was the following
QCS
which relates a recently seen film to a disorder described in the
text:
The ... Masochistic personality disorder is characterized by a desire to be controlled and hurt
by others ... typically a sadist. An example of
a masochist-sadist relationship is seen in the
movie 91/2 Weeks where the woman is controlled for the sexual pleasure of the man ....
the man blind folds the girl and trickles a
melting ice cube all over her body. Later in the
movie we see him purchase a whip .... At one
point ... he asks her if she has looked in his
closet, and when she admits she has, he . . .
punishes her by forced sex and violence .... it
is obvious that she is greatly enjoying her
submission .... this was sick and ... deviant.
However, I am glad to see that a woman who
enjoys being abused is classified as having a
mental disorder .... this woman is not so far
gone that she can’t get out of this relationship
The QCS Method
87
(though she puts up with 9 1/2 weeks of abuse)
.... I don’t think this disorder can be called an
excuse for blaming the victim. A victim of
abuse should not be blamed whether it is caused
by a mental disorder or not.
This paper is excellent for a number of reasons. First, it connects
the textbook not merely to real life, but to a product of culture (a
film), a rarer and more difficult feat in my teaching experience.
Furthermore, the student exhibits a certain amount of commitment
to, even passion concerning her beliefs about people and society.
Yes, I factor in such non-academic elements, where appropriate!
Finally, the paper touches on a political issue raised in the text,
“blaming the victim.” This QCS is well beyond being just another
case study.
Also included in this set were a discussion of one student’s
rejecting father and the aftermath, another of an abused boy’s
developing antisocial tendencies, several descriptions of antisocial
personalities known to various students, and a proposal to inject
sociopaths with adrenaline [to increase their anxiety and make
them more tractable]! Overall, the set provided some interesting,
personally relevant material for the class to chew on.
As it happened, the next batch of QCS’s brought a rare five
bonus-point effort [“+”] by a non-traditional student. The assigned
chapter was on addictive disorders and she wrote about a new
method for treating addictions using electronic frequencies applied
to the brain. She even included a tape of a lecture explaining the
method more fully! This was totally new and very exciting to me,
so she received top score.
Future Considerations
88 Writing Across the Curriculum
I plan to continue using the QCS method in my upper-level
classes. Discussion of the QCS technique with colleagues generated several potential means for enhancing its utility in the future:
1. It often takes students a few tries to get the hang of writing a
QCS.
For example, some students persistently summarize rather than
react critically. Modeling would be one means of circumventing
this problem. On the first day of class I could hand out
examples
of fair, good, very good, and excellent QCS’s written on the
identical topic. Each example could also include my comments
as
to what makes this QCS fair, good, or excellent.
2. Writing Across the Curriculum emphasizes the importance of
rewriting. The QCS stands somewhere between journal-keeping
and related spontaneous writing techniques, and the formal
essay
○ ○ which
○ ○ ○ ○ ○often
○ ○ ○ ○requires
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ several
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○drafts.
○ ○ ○ ○ It
○ ○would
○ ○ ○ ○ be
○ ○ ○helpful
○ ○ ○ ○ ○if○
students
would write their QCS on a word processor,
(1996)
thus making editing
a relatively simple affair. I could encourage this. I could also pair
students, who would
be
responsible
proofreading and criticizi n g
The
QCS for
Method
each other’s papers.
In the seven+ years since this article was originally published,
3.
Thus
far, Itohave
gathered
any formal
student
on
my approach
usingnot
QCS’s
has changed
very
little. feedback
The method
the
works well; all it requires is adaptation to contingencies of any
value of
the QCS
my sense
is that student
particular
course.
Hereitself.
are a Informally,
few contemporary
examples
of such
response
is
normally
quite
positive,
with
a
high
correlation
beadaptations:
tween overall grade received and liking for QCS’s. Yet it might
be
worthwhile to examine student reactions to QCS writing,
not a
particularly forbidding task. Some workable modifications might
even emerge.
The QCS Method
89
1. In Lifespan Developmental Psychology, which hosts about
90 students per term, the class is divided into six groups. Each
group is required to write three “discussion papers” on issues
raised in the text, e.g., “What is your view on abortion?” Initially,
specific questions are assigned to each group, but as the semester
progresses, students are allowed more flexibility in topic choice.
Papers are only rarely read out loud in class due to time constraints.
2. In Personality, I have at times dispensed with or reduced
the importance of exams and instead required approximately 20
QCS’s. This approach favors the ability to think/write well over a
penchant for rote memorization.
3. In the interdisciplinary Film and Society course, students
are in most instances constrained to choosing from a list of
discussion questions. Previously they wrote an open-ended critique
of each film. I find that using leading questions helps students
focus more effectively and results in more polished papers. For
example, regarding the well-known movie Witness, students might
be asked to describe the “social unconscious” undergirding Western and Amish realities. Having some understanding of this term
from class, they are in a better position to say something meaningful about the Amish world as portrayed in Witness than if merely
required to “discuss the film.”
On the other hand, by the final week of the course, students
may be asked to devise their own questions and then answer them!
The QCS method--I think I’ll keep it.
90 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
Teaching Freshman Composition—
Getting Started
Bonnie W. Epstein
My first semester as a Freshman Composition instructor has
ended. The anxiety has also subsided. I can now look back with
some new-found confidence to see what worked and didn’t work
for me in the teaching of writing.
Determining What To Do
How does a new instructor determine what to do? First, I
thought about a course objective. What skills do beginning students need to learn? One thing I believed then and am more sure
of now is that freshmen must have help learning how to write in
ways that other instructors will expect of them: summarizing
readings, synthesizing sources, critiquing assigned materials and
preparing the typical research essay. Perhaps nothing confirmed
the correctness of this belief more than the evaluations of my
students, one of whom said:
. . . this was an in-depth course. I’m not complaining at
all because what I have learned will give me an edge on
other areas, like when I have to summarize an article or
evaluate a piece.
Choosing A Text Book and Setting It All Up
Teaching Freshman Composition--Getting Started
91
Determining what I wanted to do sent me on to the next step:
finding a structured textbook and creating a syllabus that would
provide such skill-building. Colleagues were most helpful in offering options, but I learned the hard way that nothing is more
paralyzing to the new instructor than information overload. So I
just decided to work with a text and syllabus recently used by a
more experienced instructor.
Following a pre-set syllabus as a framework allowed me to
focus my time more on the assignment and the actual preparation
of lesson plans and materials. There just wasn’t enough time to
agonize over what text to use and what content areas to cover.
The use of a more structured text was a plus in another way as
well: it did some of the work and planning for me. Seasoned
instructors who are comfortable with both the material and the
method of presentation can work from a more open-ended text or
no text at all. For a new instructor, however, difficulties come in
learning how to lecture, how to initiate and sustain class discussion, and how to motivate and keep interest in assignments that
students may not wish to do. So, the more prep time devoted to
familiarizing myself with course materials, the better.
As a last comment on the value of a structured text, I am never
comfortable with ambiguity, and my fears about effective presentation of material were allayed somewhat by knowing exactly what
to cover in each class meeting.
Hand in hand with a textbook selection was choice of method.
Again, colleagues in the department pointed to the success of the
portfolio method which views writing as a “process.” The portfolio method allows students to prepare multiple drafts of each
assignment and submit them to the instructor for comment and
revision. No grade is given until a final copy of each assignment
92 Writing Across the Curriculum
(with all previous drafts attached) is submitted in a portfolio.
Students have praised this technique for allowing the chance for
improvement prior to final submission of the work.
Most likely, no method will succeed, however, unless the course
objectives and requirements are clear. A syllabus designed to
achieve
these aims will focus the course. Vital information such as required
text and materials, grading, and attendance policies must be clearly
outlined. Individual class assignments should then be listed. Ordinarily the syllabus will be less structured as the semester progresses.
Some Caveats
No textbook, syllabus or amount of preparation can speak to the
unexpected. Each class of students is different and requires renegotiating and thinking on your feet. However, here are some welltested thoughts I gathered from more experienced instructors:
•
Be sensitive to the fact that writing is a difficult skill to perfect.
Allow sufficient time to learn techniques and to practice them.
Everything takes longer than you think, and squeezing in too
much material can overwhelm and discourage students.
• Be prepared to expect a wide range of student skills and
preparations. The variety will require that you
adapt your materials and
the pace of your classes.
•
Be consistent. If you say one unexcused absence is allowed, be
sure that is all you allow. Classroom decorum disintegrates
quickly when students perceive the instructor vacillating on
policies and procedures.
Teaching Freshman Composition--Getting Started
93
• Be sure to communicate your expectations to the students; also
be
sure to find out what the students’ expectations are. If you
require
students to keep a journal in the course, this would be a fine
place
to ask them to communicate their expectations.
•
Be aware that conducting class discussion is tough on a new
instructor. Know your textbook and your material well; being
comfortable in the classroom depends on it. Build slowly,
including more discussion as instructor and class members
become
more comfortable with one another.
As
○ ○ ○a○ Last
○ ○ ○ ○ Point...
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Remember that someone has been there before you. Colleagues
(1997)
are usually more than happy to offer suggestions and sample
materials. Indeed, a faculty member is usually pleased to be
approached
Afterword
as one who knows the craft.
As I cast an eye over my first ever published piece, one
obvious difference strikes me immediately: the title “freshman
composition” no longer exists. The course is now “Composition”
and freshmen are “first year students.” Has anything else changed
since 1989? My thinking? My teaching philosophy? My process?
You bet. Has anything stayed the same? Sure enough.
I still believe in:
• teaching students modes of discourse that will produce effective
writing both in college and the professional work
world.
94 Writing Across the Curriculum
•
providing structure for discovering one’s writing strengths and
weaknesses.
•
stating clear objectives and requirements.
• preparing to deal with a wide range of student skills and
preparations.
• being consistent about policies such as attendance and due
dates.
•
writing, writing and writing some more.
•
first year students. They are fun to assist as they learn about
themselves through their writing.
What has changed besides the course title? I now teach on the
computer, for one. What a difference it makes to do revisions on
the spot. What a difference it makes to have the library’s on-line
catalog in front of every student as they receive bibliographic
instruction!
Other changes include:
• my greater tolerance for ambiguity. If an issue arises that
wasn’t
planned, I feel more confident that something in my
repertoire will
meet the challenge.
• more comfort with deviating from the pre-set. Classes vary
greatly
in attitude and skill level. Not everything you plan
will work with
every group. I’m now better at adapting the plan to the audience.
Teaching Freshman Composition--Getting Started
95
• a better sense for the amount of material students can handle
and
still produce fine written products.
• no more portfolios. They created too much concentrated work
for
me and too much grade anxiety for the students.
•
a different grading system, one that uses words instead of letter
grades. An employer is not going to say, “Gee, this is a B+
memo.” You’ll probably hear that it’s superior, adequate or in
need of more revision. I use the same evaluation process--one
that
is more closely aligned with the work world. Each
evaluative
category is worth a certain number of points,
so the student can
keep track of her progress throughout the semester and adjust her
performance level as
she so desires. I also allow the option to do
two rewrites for the possibility of a higher grade--no guarantees
for such unless the revision is substantial.
As a last point:
Colleagues still offer support, suggestions and sample materials. I’m pleased to say that I can now offer back to them support,
ideas and materials of my own.
96 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
Using Collaborative Techniques
in a Speech Class
Richard M. Chisholm
"Collaborating with total strangers was a good way to
test out my speech. The guys I was with had good
speeches and we worked some problems out so that they
would be better speeches....At least I know two people
will like and understand what I have to say."
That comment from a student in my course in Speech (English
240) summarizes the experience of most of the students who
participated in pre-speech collaboration.
The speech of introduction in my Speech course gives students
their first experience in front of the class. Students can talk about
things they find important, and they get a chance to know each
other. This is a standard assignment in speech classes, and I have
been doing it for years, but I have always felt that the experience
was less successful than it ought to be. The technique of collaboration has helped me help students make this introductory speech
more successfully.
For years, I have tried to help students over initial difficulties
by giving them a clear idea of expectations, providing them
guidelines, having them fill out a Personal Inventory form to re-
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class
97
discover their own experiences, and giving them adequate time to
prepare. In addition, I have tried to lower fears by not grading the
first speech. But I still found three problems with the first speeches:
student anxiety and stage fright over exposing themselves to an
unfamiliar group; uncertainty about choice of the anecdote or
experience from their life to talk about; and thin, insubstantial
presentations.
This semester, having read Karen Spear’s Sharing Writing, I
began to use the technique of collaborative preparation to overcome most of these difficulties. Students form groups of three,
make their presentations orally to this small group, and ask for and
receive supportive feedback from them.
As a result, the quality of the speeches has gone up, evidence
of nervousness has declined, and students have felt much more
confident and positive about their first experience speaking in front
of the class. Though Spear’s book is about collaboration in the
writing process, her ideas work well in helping students to collaborate in preparing speeches. This technique of collaborative preparation helps students more than anything I’ve found in a long time.
Preliminary Preparation
To prepare for their collaboration, I gave students explicit
specifications for their speech (Appendix 1). The assignment was
to prepare a 5 minute presentation in which they give background
information about themselves and tell an anecdote or experience
they have had or explain an important aspect of their life. They
then completed a Personal Inventory form (Appendix 2) to review
the major events of their lives. At the beginning of the next class,
they wrote an outline of a speech to introduce themselves, including the anecdote or interesting aspect of their life. In addition, they
98 Writing Across the Curriculum
read two chapters on audience analysis and on making the first
speech, and I lectured briefly on stage fright and how to control it,
as well as on my expectations for the course. Thus, by the time
they came to the collaborative part of their preparation, the students had already thought about the material several times and had
received explicit instruction in several important aspects of speech
preparation and presentation.
Collaborative Procedures
The purposes of the following collaborative procedures are to
help students shape their presentations by reconceptualizing the
form and content of their statements and to gain confidence in
speaking frankly about their experiences.
The collaborative process took up one class period. Here are the
procedures we followed on the day of the collaboration:
5 minutes:
Freewrite — At the beginning of the class the students made
a journal entry as follows: “Choose something you know
about and write down everything you can think of about it
(anecdote or aspect for Speech #1).”
3 minutes:
Introduction — I then explained the purposes of the small
group collaboration: 1) to give you practice for Speech #1
(Introduction); 2) To let you get acquainted with the audience;
3) To help you learn to collaborate: give information and get
a response, see what got through to our audience, and respond
to others’ presentations.
3 minutes:
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class
99
Procedures — I explained the procedures, showing the following information on a transparency.
Give your speech of introduction
Ask for feedback from your colleagues:
1. Ask for praise, positive feedback (What did you like?)
2. Ask for description (What did you hear as my main idea?
What points stick in your mind? One person retells.)
3. Ask for questions (What questions do you have?)
4. Ask for suggestions (Where do I need more information?
How
should I change the organization?)
3 minutes:
Principles — I explained the principles, showing the following points on a transparency:
Give your presentation to get practice.
Give your presentation to receive help.
Give friendly collaboration and cooperation. (Collaborators
simulate the larger audience)
Get feedback to help reconceptualize.
Don’t defend or respond to the suggestions.
Be sure the product remains your own.
1 minute:
Form Groups — I had students form groups of three by
counting off, then assigned parts of the room for them to
meet, and told them to give each person 10 minutes—5 for
their presentation and 5 for feedback.
30 minutes:
Group Meetings — (10 minutes for each of the three persons
in the group.) This was the heart of the session. The class-
100 Writing Across the Curriculum
room buzzed for thirty minutes.
5 minutes:
Freewrite — At the end of the class the students were asked
to make a final journal entry. They wrote for five minutes on
“How collaborating helped me compose my introductory
speech.” I emphasized the idea of reconceptualizing the speech.
30 seconds:
Final Word — Just before dismissing the class, I commented
that the keys to effective oral communication are preparation
and practice with a live audience. “Ask others to help you
prepare,” and “Form part of a mutual support group,” I said.
Evaluation
The speeches that students produced as a result of these procedures were superior to those of any previous class. The subject
matter of most of them was extremely personal and confidential,
yet the students spoke without hesitation and without either boasting or embarrassment about their successes and failures in life.
They spoke confidently, gave pertinent details, and made trenchant
generalizations. And although all of them confessed to having been
nervous, they showed few signs of nervousness —fewer signs than
students who had not collaborated with a small group of peers.
Perhaps most significant is the fact that these procedures helped
students see that I took this assignment seriously and expected
them to do so as well. As one student put it, “Nobody blew it off.”
As encouraging as my observation of their success was, I
believe that the comments from the students reveal the importance
of this collaboration even more pointedly. Here is a sampling of
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class
101
remarks from the final 5 minute freewrite at the end of the class
period. I think that they speak with the authentic voice of students
who are involved in fruitful collaboration.
“The girls I worked with ... seemed to be interested in
some of the things I was saying and had some encouraging things to say rather than discouraging me because of
my major as so many others do. I feel much better about
my speech now and feel that the confidence I have
gained from collaboration will make my speech even
better.”
“It helped me to see what others thought about what I
was planning on saying in my speech.”
“It was good to see them interested and to respond to
what I had to say.... Now I can go over my speech again
and improve upon it.”
“I can go up to the podium now and I will also know two
more people and feel a little more comfortable. I think
collaboration helps bring out the good points and the bad
points of the speech so you know what to expand on and
what you should dismiss.”
“Collaboration has helped my speech tremendously. I
hear the good part such as the story itself.... I am going
to rearrange my story so that it is one story instead of
two.... I am a lot more relaxed now about the speech than
before. Maybe because I know two new people.”
“It helped—I’m not nervous anymore because the group
next to us was silent while I was speaking and it was
kind of like I was talking to them too.... I think it was a
great idea to do this. Thank you."
102 Writing Across the Curriculum
For the Future
I think that in the future I will give students more opportunities
for collaboration. What I have used so far is a highly compressed
and simplified form of Spear’s procedure; in fact, I used a whole
semester’s worth of ideas in one class. As I implement more of the
ideas that Spear outlines, I will give students handouts that describe the tasks that groups are to perform and give them space to
write down the results.
This collaborative technique promotes involvement by students,
both as speakers and as hearers. Thus instead of indifference,
casual approval, passive affirmation, or boredom, the collaborative
technique helps to build active participation and commitment to
achieving the aims of the course. That is an important harvest for
a few days’ labor on my part and a few minutes’ collaboration on
the students’ part.
As another student wrote, “This is a good method of easing our
minds about being nervous—Keep it.”
I plan to keep it.
Appendix A
Instructions for a Speech of Introduction
The Assignment
Present a 5-minute speech to the class. Include the following kinds
of information:
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class
103
1. General information
Name, home town, current residence
Year, major
Interests, hobbies
Work experience
2. Anecdote
A story about yourself that reveals an important aspect
of
your life or your personality.
or
3. An Interesting Aspect of Your Life
A description of something about you that reveals an
important aspect of your life or personality.
How to Prepare Your Speech of Introduction
To prepare for this speech, complete the attached questionnaire.
Freewrite about several anecdotes and aspects of your life. Talk
about your experiences with a classmate, roommate, or friend.
Discuss them with the instructor.
Work especially on the second part of the speech, the anecdote or
interesting aspect of your life.
List your points, but do not write out the speech.
Practice your presentation once
How to Present Your Speech of Introduction
When your turn comes, walk naturally to the front of the class.
104 Writing Across the Curriculum
As you are walking up, take a deep breath to gain control of your
breathing.
Write your name on the board.
Scan the audience.
Present your speech simply and directly, in a conversational tone.
Present your speech without notes.
When you are finished, scan the audience again.
Ask “Are there any questions?”
Appendix B
How to Prepare for a Speech of Introduction
Personal Questionnaire
In your journal, answer these questions to prepare for your first
speech. This process ought to take a total of two hours or more.
Part 1. Lists
List five things you know a lot about. Select each from a different
aspect of your life.
List the jobs you have had at any age.
List unusual experiences you have had: travel, work, personal,
family. Think of things that are different from what others have
done. Service to a community; being a stranger in a foreign land;
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class
105
close friendship with a person from a different country; experience
with children, elderly people, animals; difficulty you have overcome.
List things you are good at. List as many as you can. Think of
using your hands, using your body, using words, using your senses,
using numbers, intuition, analytical thinking, originality, helpfulness, artistic ability, leadership, follow-through.
List things that are different about you: being left-handed; being a
twin; being foreign-born.
List several people that were important in your life. Think of
people outside your family. List turning points in your life. List
things you have done this year for the first time.
List things that play an important part in your life: music, art,
animals, sports, games, courses, reading interests.
List the careers you have considered.
Part 2. Brainstorm.
Go back through your notes and select one item in each category.
Write out a brief statement about each one.
Select three of the topics you wrote about. Explain each one in five
minutes. Do this out loud, then write it out. Think of as many
details as you can that will help communicate your experience to
others in the class.
Part 3. Organize
Select one topic for your speech of introduction. List the items you
will mention. Create a design for your speech by putting these
items in the order you will mention them. Continue your prepara-
106 Writing Across the Curriculum
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(1997)
Peer Coaching in a Speech Class
Oh wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as other see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An foolish notion
--Robert Burns, “To A Louse”
In my course in Speech (English 204), I provide students a
venue for practicing their speeches under controlled and
unthreatening conditions. I have them present their speech first in
a group of three students. Then they make the presentation to the
whole class.
In 1989, I described my use of small-group practice in an
article titled “Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class.”
Since then, I have learned a thing or two:
• I know now that what I was writing about was not collaboration
but peer review. I now call it peer coaching. I act as coach, and the
students act as coach.
• I know that persons are increasingly called on to make oral and
visual presentations in professional contexts and that their work is
judged largely on the basis of their presentation skills. Yet our
students continue to be deficient in making oral presentations.
Fewer and fewer majors at Plymouth State require Speech, and
consequently students suffer. I encourage the idea of Speech
Using Collaborative Techniques in a Speech Class
107
Across the Curriculum. This would have students make oral
presentations in all classes.
• I know that students feel nervous and anxious about making oral
presentations. More than anything else, they fear the response of
their peers. They need chances to become acquainted, find mutual
interests, broaden their perspectives, and learn to reveal themselves—all the while performing at an acceptable academic level.
• I know that students can build confidence and ability through
practice. With practice, they can improve their presentation skills.
But they will not practice on their own. For years in Speech class,
I used to urge students to present their speeches in an empty room.
That would give them the practice they needed. But I don’t think
any of them ever did it. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve done
it myself for more than a few sentences. It seemed silly.
I give students the opportunity for peer coaching at least three
times during the semester: before their introductory speech, before
their oral reading of a passage of prose, and before their final
major speech. Peer coaching gives students a technique they can
use in other courses and for the rest of their lives.
I have also discovered some other practices that promote good
oral presentations:
• Students must present their material with no notes. When I
started
forbidding notes in oral presentations, I was amazed at how
markedly the quality went up. The reason is that students speak
better than they write. When they use notes, their writing gets in
the way of effective communication. When they speak without
notes, they cannot rely on a false crutch.
108 Writing Across the Curriculum
• Students need exact, specific, and detailed guidelines for speeches.
Left to their own devices, they often present thin, lifeless speeches
with unsubstantiated assertions.
• Students need concrete suggestions for speech topics. I have
found that the most effective topic for an introductory speech is “A
Significant Turning Point in My Life.” That gives them something
they can sink their teeth into; after all, they are the world’s expert
on the subject. It gives them the opportunity to review their
personal experience and tell about something they’ve been bursting
to tell all their lives.
Students tell me that the peer coaching is the single most
effective experience they have in the Speech course. I think it
would work well in any course.
Reflections
on
Theory
110 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
How I Started Using Writing Across the
Curriculum and Ended Up Taking Algebra
Again: A Review of Useful Works on
Writing Across the Curriculum
Sally Boland
(Toby Fulwiler, The Journal Book, 1987; Robert P. Parker and
Vera Goodkin, The Consequences of Writing, 1987; Karen Spear,
Sharing Writing; Toby Fulwiler, Writing Across the Curriculum:
Research into Practice, 1986. All published by Boynton-Cook/
Heinemann)
As it enters its second decade, Writing Across the Curriculum
in the United States is supported by an increasingly sophisticated
literature which offers a great deal of hands-on, how-to advice, as
well as a solid theoretical basis in linguistic and learning research.
Generally, this work is free of jargon, accessible to any interested
person, whatever their academic discipline. The four books reviewed here are typical in their blending of the theoretical with the
practical; two are more valuable for their discussion of Writing
Across the Curriculum theory and for their histories of the movement than as sources for classroom strategy.
Writing Across the Curriculum Theory
The most theoretical of them, Parker’s and Goodkin’s The
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
111
Consequences of Writing, both presents an account of Writing
Across the Curriculum history and explains the learning and
linguistic theories underlying the technique.
The movement began in England in the late 1960s with the
work of James Britton and Nancy Martin. They examined educational practice in light of the linguistic theories of Edward Sapir,
Suzanne Langer, and Lev Vygotsky. These theorists asserted that,
in Sapir’s words, “The purely communicative aspect of language
has been exaggerated...language is primarily a vocal actualization
of the tendency to see realities symbolically.” In other words, for
Sapir, et. al., language is far more than just a system of signs we
manipulate to achieve certain ends. It is the medium with which we
construct our symbolic representation of who we are and of the
world around us.
Considering the implications of this for learning and teaching,
Britton and Martin concluded that we “construct knowledge from
experience by transforming that experience symbolically” through
language when we learn. In classroom research, Britton and his
colleagues found that children in all grades, studying all subjects,
learned better when all kinds of language activity, from notepassing and conversation to formal written and oral reports, was
the basic instructional vehicle. Informal expression, or expressive
writing journals, letters, lists, impromptu poems, were found to be
particularly valuable. Expressive writing in the child’s everyday
language has remained an important part of British pedagogy.
This was the origin of LAC (Language Across the Curriculum),
a technique favored in Britain that uses all forms of language
activity (reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills) to help
students learn subject matter more quickly and effectively. WAC,
Writing Across the Curriculum, was but one branch of this larger
concern; U. S. educators embraced it at a time when criticism of
student writing abilities was more than usually scathing. Unfortu-
112 Writing Across the Curriculum
nately, we in the United States have often ignored the larger
context of LAC and the benefits it can offer. Instead, our general
tendency has been to embrace WAC as an alternative way to
reinforce the forms and skills of standard English writing instruction.
To remedy this confused application of WAC, Parker and
Goodkin devote the second part of their work to a survey of current
theory on the connections between thinking and language, especially the work of Piaget and Vygotsky. In Part Three, they draw
out the implications for learning theory. Parker and Goodkin
believe that much is gained from using the full range of language
activity as a means of teaching people the content of disciplines.
The final section presents brief case studies of people who use
LAC and WAC to teach mathematics, applied psychology, entomology, and clinical nursing.
Indeed, WAC is so widely applicable that it can easily move
beyond the English department and may even alter entire institutions. That is the primary message of the Young-Fulwiler collection of essays. The workshop techniques we learned from Fulwiler
here at PSC were developed between 1977 and 1984 when he
taught at Michigan Technological University. The selections here,
all composed by MTU faculty from several departments, demonstrate the many ways a WAC program, if undertaken seriously, can
change institutional priorities. While there is some material here
that will help in the classroom, the book’s chief value is its account
of how, despite some difficult faculty politics, MTU created a
successful program. Thus it will be useful to those trying to
establish a new program of their own. And for us at PSC, it will
be helpful now that we are ready to begin documenting and
assessing our program.
Members of our WAC Task Force, General Education Committee and Writing Program Assessment Committee will find
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
113
reassurance and useful advice in Section II, “Evaluation: Assumptions and Discoveries.” Anyone interested in undertaking classroom research on WAC’s effects on student learning will rejoice in
Margaret E. Gorman’s essay, “Mucking Around,” which explains
that credible and responsible studies can be constructed even by
those of us who don’t actually remember college algebra and never
even thought of taking statistics. (Gorman’s advice: if you don’t
have statistics, you can enlist the help of a faculty statistician or
educational measurements expert.)
Theory Into Practice
Every publishing season brings us new, down-to-earth books
on how to use WAC in the classroom. Fulwiler’s The Journal Book
is one of the best. The journal has emerged as a mainstay of WAC
practice, and Fulwiler’s collection offers a fine selection of new
ideas. I’d like to hear from colleagues who attempt some of them,
such as the ones proposed by Verner Jensen (“Writing in College
Physics”); George Meese (“Focused Learning in Chemistry Research: Suzanne’s Journal”) and Stephen BeMiller (“The Mathematics Workbook”).
This is a good book to sample from. Last semester in Composition 120 I adapted a project recommended in Christopher
Burnham’s “Reinvigorating a Tradition: The Personal Development Journal.” The informal, ungraded, expressive writing students did for the personal development journal led many to greater
clarity and power when they came to write the more formal,
finished language of the personal essay. At the same time my
students were keeping their journals, we read about how professional writers use journals, deal with writer’s block, develop
expressive writings into formal essays, and so on. In time, many
students began to think of themselves as writers rather than as
captives in Composition 120—a change I deduced from their
114 Writing Across the Curriculum
behavior in conferences about their work. Instead of asking what
I thought of their essays, they would begin by telling me what they
thought and by asking my response to specific places in their work
that they thought especially difficult or especially good. They
became active, took the initiative in shaping their own work, which
is how writers (as opposed to captives) behave. The Journal Book
is rich in suggestions for getting this kind of satisfaction for
students and teachers.
The success of last fall’s journal experiment has given me the
heart to try again—probably for the dozenth time—to incorporate
peer response groups into my class. It’s the kind of thing that
sounds like it should work —it just stands to reason that students
should be able to critique one another’s writing and learn from the
process. But so far, I haven’t been able to get it to happen.
This time, however, with the help of Karen Spear’s Sharing
Writing, I may succeed. She admits that peer response groups are
usually ineffective. The reason, she says, is that students lack the
social and interpersonal skills to make them succeed. As often
happens in WAC literature, she spends the first half of her book on
theory, relating the peer response problem to students’ lack of
expertise in discussing, listening, reading, giving or receiving
feedback—that full range of language activity encouraged by
LAC.
Spear then shows, however, that highly-polished—or, at least,
much improved—final drafts will come from groups that work
consciously to improve their interpersonal skills. The second half
of Sharing Writing explains how Spear developed such groups in
her freshman composition courses at the University of Utah.
Instructors interested in developing peer response in any class—
whether in writing or in a content area—will find much here to
ponder: many interesting revision checklists (ones that work, ones
that don’t); strategies for improving reading and listening; ways to
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
115
teach groups to monitor their own effectiveness.
I’m planning to try Spear’s method, with a few modifications,
on my technical writing students in spring semester. Technical
Writing is an upper division course populated by juniors and
seniors, most of whom have a strong professional orientation.
Nearly all writing done in a professional setting these days requires
some degree of peer collaboration. So I want my tekkies to learn
two things: how to respond constructively to other people’s writing
and how to use other people’s responses to their own work. In
setting up the course, I’m borrowing freely from Spear.
Making peer response a priority has substantially altered my
usual way of presenting the course—one that has worked pretty
well for the last eight years. If it doesn’t work, I’m going to ask
Karen Spear for a refund. If it does, I’ll make some big changes in
next fall’s Composition 120 sections and some little ones in my
literature courses, making peer response central to the writing
course and using it to help the literature students in their writing
assignments.
And after that—well, maybe I’ll attempt some classroom research so I can reliably demonstrate what’s been going on in my
classes,
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ and
○ ○ ○why.
○ ○ ○ I’ll
○ ○ follow
○ ○ ○ ○ ○Margaret
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○Gorman’s
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ advice
○ ○ ○ ○ ○and
○ ○ find
○ ○ ○ a○
statistician to help me design a study. Because I’m embarrassed...
all that bragging about last fall’s composition students and their
wonderful journals is a true(1997)
account of my impression of what
happened. But if you want evidence... well, I did save a few papers
and
some journals,
I meant to save moreUsing
and do an attitude
Goodbye,
Ms.andGoodwrench:
survey, but I forgot....
Conversation to Motivate Student ThinkI want to get out of that embarrassing spot, even if teaching
ing
writingand
meansWriting
I do an algebra review next summer and take a stats
course in the fall.
Years ago, when I first began teaching composition, the best
research showed that students do not read instructors’ comments
116 Writing Across the Curriculum
on returned papers. Instead, they go straight for the bottom line—
that letter grade at the end of the last page—ignoring all other
marks and remarks. This discouraged me in literature courses, to
the point where I almost stopped commenting on papers at all. And
in composition courses, I found it particularly galling, because if a
student doesn’t learn from feedback on early drafts, the final drafts
are likely to be disappointing.
Yet, as far as I know, there is no research on why students
don’t read instructors’ comments. Can they not read the instructors’ handwriting? Do they not understand what the comments
mean? Are they made so complacent by a satisfactory letter grade
that they don’t care why they got it or how they might improve
next time? Or, conversely, are they so intimidated by the letter
grade that they lose any desire to read amplifying comments?
I wondered, and the attempt to develop students’ peer editing
skills, which I describe in the 1989 article reprinted above, came
out of that wondering. What I want to do here is describe my long
odyssey from using checklist feedback to initiating feedback conversations instead. Since I began my journey by trying to teach
feedback and peer review to my composition students, I’ll center
on that experience. But I later learned to use a form of conversational feedback in literature courses as well, so I’ll comment on
what I learned from that also.
Back in 1989, I believed that if students could internalize
editing lingo and use it to give each other feedback, just as I gave
feedback in class and in my written comments, they would become
more proficient editors, for their peers and for themselves. It made
sense: I would model the lingo, and from that students would learn
to use it during peer feedback and revision.
So I spent a great deal of time devising checklists my students
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
117
could use to comment on whether the main idea was clearly stated,
whether the opening was interesting and the ending sufficiently
final, whether the ideas were adequately developed and supported,
what parts of the essay seemed to work best, what parts needed
further development. Glowing with hope, I distributed the checklists to my composition students, confident that soon they would
not only give one another wise advice but would also actually read
my comments and use them to revise intelligently.
This did not happen.
When the students paired up to give each other face-to-face
advice, a great hush came over the room, a brief flurry of reading
and writing followed, then general chatter about football or skiing
or music or even less edifying topics. What was going on here?
What wasn’t going on?
When I collected the checklists, I found that students did not
use them to comment. Instead they filled the checklist with yes/
no responses and short answers. Was the main point clear? Yes.
What was the strongest part of the essay? Where the writer
describes making the lucky interception that brought his team the
state football championship. Clearly the students understood the
lingo and even the concepts behind the lingo; they knew a topic
sentence from a transitional paragraph, but they still hadn’t the
slightest notion of how to give useful feedback; they had no sense
of how to give advice which would help their writing partner rethink and re-write, which I take to be the primary use of all
feedback.
Worse yet, nobody used my comments, either, even though my
checklist responses were quite fully detailed. So there matters
stood when I took time off from teaching to do a stint in academic
administration. I brought much of what I had learned from teach-
118 Writing Across the Curriculum
ing to my administrative work; when I returned to teaching, I
brought back to the classroom much that I had learned in administration. One very valuable thing I learned there had to do with
evaluating the job performance of the employees I supervised
directly. In the places I worked, performance evaluation always
involved checklists, letters, and other written documents, but there
was also a requirement that supervisor and employee sit down
together and talk about what the supervisor had written. I had
found these conversations enormously helpful—for improving my
own work as well as my employees’. In evaluating others, I found,
I also evaluated myself.
This lesson served me well when I came back to teaching,
because I began to listen to the way I talked to and wrote to my
students. It came to me that my comments on main points and
topic sentences and strong openings were, in a way, irrelevant.
The problem, I decided, was a premature concern for nuts and
bolts. I came on as the literary Ms. Goodwrench at a stage in the
writing process when students really needed someone to talk to
them about content, about the way I was affected by what they had
written. Maybe, I thought, that’s what’s missing: conversation,
dialogue, talk about ideas, experiences, fantasies, fears, hopes,
regrets—my own as well as my students’.
But how to do this in a reasonably organized way, one that
keeps students writing and rewriting until they fully realize what
they need to say, and actually say it? I remembered a couple of
techniques I had heard of, one from Roy Andrews, director of
PSC’s College Writing Center, and one from UNH writer and
teacher Don Murray. While I began using these response techniques in composition classes, where my students write many
drafts, I later adapted them to courses where students write only
one draft before the final; I have even found them helpful on brief
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
119
in-class writings that I grade Pass/Fail and that are not rewritten.
After describing their use in multiple draft situations, usual in a
composition course, I explain how I adapted what I learned from
Andrews and Murray and how that has enhanced my students’
work in other writing situations.
Roy Andrews taught me “first response strategy,” something
he learned from Peter Elbow, which involves making marginal
notes on the first thing you think of as you read the paper through
the first time. And that’s what I do now—it’s all I do—on first
drafts. This, I find, opens the conversation I want to have with the
student, and this is where I am most likely to write comments that
connect to the student personally: I may bring up similar experiences or ideas I have had or read about; I may simply write
confirming comments, such as “Yike!” or “You must have felt
wonderful,” or “That’s a neat idea,” or “This is really interesting.
I’d like to know more about it,” or “This reminds me of the time
I...” or “One of my favorite poets, William Blake, says...”
With my first response, I want to show students that I’m taking
the content of their writing seriously—that what they are thinking
about and trying to say is worth articulating more clearly and fully.
I want to motivate them to invest lots of time in writing the many,
many drafts that we require of our composition students. Of
course there is no grade at the bottom of the first draft, but I see
my students reading my comments (I always offer to clarify any
comments they don’t understand) and their second drafts invariably reflect attempts to use my comments.
In the second draft, I switch to Murray’s “focus line” strategy,
a way of locating what I call the high energy spots in a paper—
places that call for further explanation, where there is a mystery to
be explored, or a conflict to be examined and worked out. These
places I identify rather tersely: “There’s some tension here; try
120 Writing Across the Curriculum
probing it more fully” or “ So why do you feel that...? Would it be
different if...?” or “This mystery is probably worth further exploration,” or, simply, “I want to know more!”
My second draft comments aim at helping students find a
center for the paper, a place from which their main point will
eventually emerge as we work through subsequent drafts, alternative openings, planning sessions, lists of possible titles, and the
like. As we come nearer the final draft, my comments and questions become more focused on development, coherence, and sentence structure. But even at this stage I avoid the writing teacher’s
lingo that once made up my feedback checklists and use instead
content-oriented remarks, such as “I got lost as you moved from
this paragraph to the next,” or “I still don’t understand what you
mean here. Can you rephrase somehow?”
Perhaps because conversational commentary gives them more
information to go on, my writing students do read my comments,
and they seem to be able to use them to advantage. On the final
draft, there is a bottom-line grade, and my students do look at it.
But by then they know pretty much what they have done (or not)
and I usually confine my remarks to a brief end comment.
In my literature and interdisciplinary courses, I adapt the first
response and the focus point strategies to suit the occasion. Often
in these classes, I ask students to write brief response papers which
are meant to prepare them for discussion rather than to provide me
a basis for evaluation; I grade them pass/fail. Unless an essay
grossly misses the assignment specifications, I never ask for a
rewrite. As a way of opening the conversation that we will later
continue during class discussion, I use a first response marking
strategy. For more formal papers, when I require or at least
recommend a first draft, I combine the two marking strategies in
whatever way seems appropriate to the paper I’m reading. Once
again, I find that students do read my comments, even if the essay
How I Started Using Writing Across the Curriculum
121
receives only a pass/fail grade, and my opening the conversation
on paper seems to help people focus better in small group discussions and volunteer their comments during general discussions.
As for time, that need to get on with it and get on to the next
thing in our perpetually over-scheduled lives...I find this way of
marking actually takes less time than the old checklist method,
perhaps because my comments are very targeted. I have very
specific reasons for commenting as I do, and I don’t feel compelled to comment on everything at once...I will do the other things
later, either through further targeted comments or by referring my
students to the appropriate help center on campus—and remember
that we have three of them: the English Department Reading and
Writing Center (mostly for composition students), the College
Writing Center, and PASS, for special needs students.
And my job satisfaction has risen considerably; I no longer feel
in danger of crashing and burning, because initiating conversations
makes what my students have to say interesting to me—no matter
how imperfectly they say it. Furthermore, since conversational
commentary seems to improve their writing immediately and
markedly, I feel that what I’m doing is worth the effort—another
stay against the disaster of burnout.
Whatever happened to peer review? I still do it, though less
frequently and less formally than before. It used to be one of the
central activities in composition, but since I began teaching writing
in a computerized classroom, students spend much more classroom
time actually writing and revising. When we do have a peer
review, students mimic my marking system; they frequently ask
for more information and are more willing than before to admit
that they actually got a bit lost in places where transitional or
developmental material are weak. But having found the right
language for writing comments that students can actually use, I am
122 Writing Across the Curriculum
less worried about the reinforcement that I had hoped peer feedback might give my remarks.
Certainly I am more comfortable teaching writing than I ever
have been. It’s less of a struggle for me and my students now,
more natural seeming with a conversational basis. In one of my
favorite poems, J. V. Cunningham congratulates his student because “you have learned, not what to say, but how the saying
should be said.” I think moving from checklist to conversation
taught me that, and my students, too.
(1989)
Iconology: An Alternate Form of Writing
Dennise Bartelo and Robert Morton
People approach writing from a traditional point of view
because the very term writing implies letters into words, words
into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs. We propose that
there are many forms of writing and traditional writing is only one
of them. Scientists write formulas and draw molecular representations. Musicians compose using musical scores. Mathematicians
write equations and construct geometric drawings. Choreographers
use the system of labanotation to record movement. The most
obvious to us is the drawing of images, which we believe to one
of the most primal forms of human language. In this paper, we will
discuss how the artist uses drawing as a form of communication of
ideas.
From what seemed to be unrelated fields, we, an artist and
educator, met one afternoon to view and discuss a piece of the
artist’s sculpture. To explain the method of construction, the artist
used drawings from his sketchbook that revealed more to us than
just the construction methods. The notations, the language necessary to develop the work of art, revealed a complex process, and
we recognized this process as a specific form of writing. In our
discussion, this visual form of writing contained all the elements of
the writing process. The process in writing and in iconology was
identical but was labeled differently by each of us according to our
disciplines. Brainstorming was explained by the artist as a combi-
124 Writing Across the Curriculum
nation of random drawings, fantasy drawings, and drawings made
during random encounters. Drafting, revising, and editing were
similar to developing an image through a series of drawings where
the intention was to clearly resolve the idea. Through this discussion, we came to the conclusion that there are many forms of
writing, all using similar elements through different modes of
expression. This obvious form of communication is often overlooked. Yet, home owners make drawings for builders, people
draw maps for directions, and most people doodle while talking on
the telephone. These are just a few of the forms of visual language
we use daily without actually considering the images as language.
The Artist’s Approach to Writing
In the fine arts, this area of expression is explored in the form
of a sketchbook, which is simply a collection of drawings. These
drawings are notations on the development of ideas, the realization
of ideas, and the storage of ideas. To the student and the mentor,
these drawings are perfectly legible and can be read easily and
accurately. Like poetry, the images contain many levels. The
sketchbook is an artist’s daily visual diary. Since its organization
reflects a personal attempt at capturing and exploring thoughts, the
book is multifunctional. It serves as a mental stimulus and repository for those visual events that the artist finds important to note:
landscapes, still life, people in action, etc.
A very primal thematic imagery can be perceived over long
periods of time. (Our study spanned only 12 years of drawings, yet
we could see some strong basic themes emerge.) The sketchbook
contains short cyclical images that are introduced, resolved, and
abandoned as opposed to long term images that are introduced,
resolved, and revisited. We grouped the sketchbook drawings into
these broad categories listed below.
126 Writing Across the Curriculum
128 Writing Across the Curriculum
130 Writing Across the Curriculum
132 Writing Across the Curriculum
134 Writing Across the Curriculum
136 Writing Across the Curriculum
1. Practice Drawings—Drawings that reinforce skills in
perception and hand-eye coordination. These are the simplest kinds of drawings. The drawings in Figure 1 show
evidence of this fine tuning skill process. The life class in
which these drawings took place is a formal practice situation. These drawings increase the range of skill the artist
needs for expression and experimentation with new techniques.
2. Random Drawings — Pleasure drawings, drawings for
the “fun of it,” doodles, and perhaps subliminal ideas.
These often occur when one is relaxed and not thinking
about a particular subject matter or image. The drawings
happen very spontaneously. Figures 2, 3, and 4 are different kinds of random drawings. Figure 2 is the artist’s
“doodle” during a faculty meeting. There is evidence of
playing with perspective, composition, and light and dark.
Figure 3, the dragon, is the kind of spontaneous image that
is difficult to identify in terms of its source. A word, a
conversation, even a situation can trigger this type of
drawing. In reflection, one may find the source, but it isn’t
apparent when the drawing appears. The dragon was drawn
during a lunch break. Figure 4, the “Redneck,” appeared
from reflections about a paradox: the contemporary young
man and the image of a ’60s hippie. The drawing occurred
long after the reflection.
3. Fantasy Drawings — Fantasizing to realize an image, a
playing with images, and/or recollections of images. Figure
5 reveals the very origins of a later sculpture called “Spirit
of Flight.” This image cannot be observed in nature, but the
imagination allows the artist both to draw the image and to
experience the sensation of flying while making the drawing.
Iconology: An Alternate Form of Writing 137
4. Developmental Drawings — A series of drawings
whose primary aim is to bring an idea to maturity. In one
case, the process is the focus. In other cases, it is the
application of the image to a formal work of art, i.e.
sculpture, painting, print. After the drawing of Figure 5
occurred, the sculptural possibilities of the flying figure
were explored, as seen in Figure 6.
5. Analytical Drawings—Study drawings which clarify
ideas and are often very detailed, with scale, sizes, material
considerations, construction, and dimension. Figure 7 is an
example of an analytical drawing not drawn from life, but
actually drawn from parts of an incomplete sculpture. The
intent of this drawing was to assist the artist in seeing the
unfinished parts of the sculpture and make visual conclusions.
6. Experiential Drawings—Drawings made about life experiences. These drawings record the exploration of feelings, personal interest, and sentiments. These drawings
consist of images which were of enough interest to compel
the artist to make a visual note. The drawings in Figure 8
were drawn directly from the experience of attending a
lecture at Stratford-on-Avon. The lecture was dull, but the
participants attending the lecture were fascinating.
These example drawings were identified with some difficulty
since often they contained elements of several categories. Their
placement was made by identifying the most characteristic category.
Sketchbooks differ from any kind of formal prose but are most
closely related to a diary. In fact, they are a visual diary. The
images recorded in them are personal, intimate, and revealing. The
intention of the sketch book is to provide information solely for the
artist.
138 Writing Across the Curriculum
Content Analysis Evaluation
The sketch book is a diary of an artist’s selection and compilation of ideas. The expressions found in the sketchbook illustrate
key turning points of an artist’s imagery in the journey from the
moment to moment ideas to the broad periods of time required for
major themes to develop. Recurring themes, although often separated by years, appear here. For example, the theme of “Flight” has
appeared in this artist’s work over a 12 year span (See Figures 5,
6) in drawings and sculptures of flying persons and images of birds
and kites.
The handstand figure and the crucifixion (Figures 9 and 10)
reflect this same general spatial concept. The outspread arms and
arched back provide the artist with the same aesthetic concepts
while introducing what seems to be unrelated thematic material.
This idea of recurrent themes has also been seen in children’s
drawings as they progress from the process of labeling to narrative.
Although this is a rudimentary example, it is interesting to note
that the process, although more sophisticated for adults, remains
substantially the same.
Summary and Conclusion
In discovering that the sketchbook is a sensitive visual language that can be read by the artist as well as others, it seems
appropriate that this concept of visual literacy be recognized in
Writing Across the Curriculum programs. The way language processes—in this case drawing and writing—are used to reflect
thinking and meaning should be the primary concern. The sketchbook captures the internal monologue of the artist. It is the “never
seen” foundation for those formal public works.
There are many ways to approach the task of writing, and one
should not impose artificial forms of writing on any discipline. It
is not the form of language nor the amount, but that the form of
writing is appropriate to the purpose. A Writing Across the Curriculum program must recognize and encourage all forms of
Iconology: An Alternate Form of Writing 139
expression. The differences in the ways to approach the task
should be recognized as strategies used to process information and
communicate meaning. Drawing should be recognized as a form of
expressive language. It is not a substitute for written language, but
rather an additional form, an augmentation to that form of communication.
The categories developed in this study are a beginning step in
classifying the dimensions of meaning displayed in the sketchbook. Continued study of this visual literacy and the relationships
among the language processes is suggested to help gain an awareness and understanding of the many features of communicative
media.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(1997)
Iconography Revisited
In our article for the first issue of the WAC journal, we were
concerned with the use of drawing as language. The concept
seemed to be ideal for the Writing Across the Curriculum effort
since drawing is seldom thought of as a language even though we
use it as such to assist others in visualizing objects, situations or
concepts that are difficult to describe accurately in words. What is
most interesting, from an Artist’s point of view, is that although
people use this language of imagery often, few work at learning
how to become skilled in its complexities. Unfortunately drawing,
as a language, is often left behind when we are introduced to our
culture’s written language.
In our article we pointed out the importance of recognizing
visual literacy, which has now become a part of current national
and state standards. With the impact of Howard Gardner’s (1993)
multiple intelligence theory, which promotes multiple ways of
thinking and responding, visual learning, or what Eisner (1993)
calls the “Education of Vision,” seems to have become more
140 Writing Across the Curriculum
integrated into the educational agenda. Drawing, as a means of
communication, seems to be finding a more receptive audience.
We are still in agreement with the ideas put forth in our 1989
publication, and in re-reading the article we noticed several phrases
that seemed to us rich material for further investigation. While
thinking about drawing as the “most primal form of human
language,” we are reminded that the study of human efforts to
produce written language reveals the fascinating origins of present
day alphabets as pictographs. The most obvious example of this
lineage is the hieroglyphics that developed in Egypt several thousand years ago. This well known alphabet is quite sophisticated
and apparently its beginnings were from a much earlier pictograph
form. Cave painting is another early form of writing that though
perhaps impossible for us to read as it was originally intended, still
allows us to understand some meaning through its more universal
aesthetic form.
“The way language processes are used to reflect thinking and
meaning” is another phrase from the article that seems rich to us
for further investigation as it makes the connection between cognition and representation, or thinking and imaging, a topic that
Eisner (1997) continues to research and that continues to interest
us. The following three core ideas from Eisner elaborate what we
said in 1989 and still believe today:
The form of representation we use to represent what we
think influences both the processes and the products of
thinking.
The selection of a form of representation influences not
only what you are able to represent but also what you are
able to see [and understand].
Forms of representation can be combined to enrich the
Iconology: An Alternate Form of Writing 141
array of resources students can respond to (Eisner 1997,
pp 350-352).
Upon re-reading our article we came upon one sentence that we
now feel needs to be clarified: “The process in writing and
iconography was identical.” The reference here was to the more
formal applications of jotting down ideas and the development and
refinement of those ideas through writing and re-writing or through
drawing and re-drawing. The development of ideas through refinement and the seeking of alternative ways of presentation is common in both written and visual languages, and the continual need
to write or draw to both build and strengthen these skills is also
similar.
Interestingly, Bob’s development is in drawing, but through the
experience of writing the 1989 article and this response he feels he
has become more proficient in writing, while Dennise feels because of the experience she has integrated more visual learning
into her teaching. Both of us believe our collaboration has been a
positive experience.
Our article on iconology documents a movement toward seeing
connections across all the language processes. The idea stated in
our article about “multiple levels and forms used to communicate
meaning” continues to be an important concept in “getting the total
picture” of learning. Being both literate in the traditional sense and
visually literate are the true mark of a well-educated human.
References
Eisner, E. ( 1993 ) “The Education of Vision.” Educational
Horizons, Winter 1993, pp. 80-85.
Eisner,E. ( 1997 ) “Cognition and Representation.” Phi Delta
Kappan, January 1997, pp. 348 360.
142 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1990)
Writing Assignments in World Politics
Courses
Thomas 0. Schlesinger
Walking out of Rounds Hall with me after class, Benny, a
sophomore in one of my international relations courses, asked for,
and received, some pointers on the required paper. “You’ve just
told me to write exactly as I’ve been taught not to write,” said he.
“And who, pray tell, taught you?” asked I.
He gave an over-the-shoulder nod across the street, toward
Ellen Reed House—the English Department.
“Hmmm. . . fine—I’m not surprised to hear they tell you
something different,” I told him. “The English profs teach you to
write in a generic way, say, fiction, or generically expository stuff.
I want you to write a social science paper.”
With some “Hmmm-ing” of his own, Benny shuffled off,
wearing a mildly annoyed and not altogether convinced frown.
How dare they teach different ways to write in different departments at the same college!
Benny did make an effort to heed my suggestions, but it took
persistence. For example, the introduction to his first draft, in-
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses
143
cluded a vague statement like: “Conflict between Arabs and Black
Africans in the Sudan is a serious problem and should be examined
in greater detail. . . including its history, causes, and future.” The
purpose statement I eventually settled for read more like this: “This
paper will examine social, economic, and political aspects of the
Sudanese civil war. The geography and history of the conflict will
be briefly reviewed, followed by discussion of population characteristics, agricultural and commercial organization of the country.
Political outcomes of these circumstances will be analyzed, with
special attention to the impact of Marxist ideology and the Islamic
faith.”
Such experiences have taught me that many students find the
requirements for a social science paper substantially divergent
from other writing instruction and assignments. They learn of the
need to adjust their writing style to the demands of a given
discipline. This article will describe and explain typical writing
assignments for courses related to world politics, with emphasis on
apparent differences from other forms of writing. I will deal with
assignment objectives, choice of topics, purpose statements, organization, sources, the normative aspects, and some typical problems.
Assignment Objectives
One of the college-wide assumptions of liberal arts education
is that our students acquire or improve their skills in written
expression. Thus we shall deal only with objectives that may take
on a different orientation in social science writing. Generic writing-skill values aside, three themes bear mention here: motivation,
knowledge of sources, and relationships among various social
science concepts.
One assignment serves partly to motivate. Required early in the
144 Writing Across the Curriculum
introductory course, it is designed to lead Benny, preferably as a
fresh- man, to think of politics as something directly affecting his
life. This essay asks Benny to relate a problem of world politics to
his personal circumstances (e.g., to his family, lifestyle, or personal
values). The idea is that writing what amounts to a quasi-personal
letter to the instructor may help Benny deal with common inhibitions about what is for him and many others a daunting and even
threatening subject. At the same time, depending on variations in
high school experience, this is for some students the first attempt
to write about political reality.
The assignment is to discuss changing notions of patriotism
with various generations in the family. Like others, Benny reported
that he never had a serious talk with Grandpa, or even with Dad,
about “the war,” and results of such talks are sometimes startling.
For example, by demonstrating a sincere and serious interest in the
senior’s experience, after encountering resistance to discussions of
war or patriotism, he may finally have begun a closer relationship.
Another occasional essay assignment leads the student to learn
new and different usage of terms and related concepts. “State” and
“nation” are routinely misused in popular American discourse, and
specific new meanings and usages for these are difficult for some
to conceptualize.
Other assignments are designed to acquaint students with
specific sources of information, such as the New York Times Index
and New York Times Microfilm, the U.S. Department of State
Bulletin, the UN Monthly Chronicle, and the Congressional Digest.
Increased skill in using specialized sources is a significant objective of political science courses. Regrettably, so far the technological revolution works against that. All too often students go to the
computerized index relevant to the subject, punch in one or two
key words from the assignment sheet, and in some cases end up
with a bibliography identical with those of dozens of others in the
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses
145
class. The hope is that directing students to other specific sources
will compensate for this.
Typically, in a foreign policy course, the assignments are
designed to force the student away from commonly used abstract
generalizations (e.g., “U.S. economic assistance should be given
only to democracies”). These are avoided by using concrete and
specific questions (“As an intern for Senator Jones, you’ve been
told to write a position paper for the senator on a bill to provide
U.S. economic assistance to Guatemala. You are to consider
constituent politics as well as foreign policy substance. How
should the senator vote on the bill, and why?”)
The traditional full-length term-paper assignments occur in
upper level “area studies” courses on the politics of Africa, Latin
America, or the Middle East. Here the main objective is to improve
understanding of how various political forces and movements
interact. An acceptable comparative topic would be “How Islamic
revolution affects the drive toward modernization in two specific
countries.”
The expectation and hope is that the student’s interest in the
subject will be stimulated, that familiarity with professional sources
of information (e.g., regionally oriented journals) will be increased,
that evaluation of relative credibility of sources will be practiced,
that concepts and analytic approaches taught in text and class will
be applied to different data, and that personal values will be
engaged, and even committed, in statements of policy preference.
(Example: “In region Y of country X, preservation of an indigenous culture may be a greater human rights value that modernization because. . .”)
Often I find that developing an appropriate topic, scouting the
general availability of adequate sources for that topic, and stating
the topic clearly, are the most difficult—indeed sometimes agoniz-
146 Writing Across the Curriculum
ing—steps for students. This stage typically calls for the most
intense interaction with me, which is not to say that it always
happens. It is often difficult to get students to realize that this
interaction is a crucial step in producing the paper.
Formal Requirements
For traditional term papers, I require an outline and at least a
first draft. Both of these receive a grade that counts as a quiz, and
definitely bears no relationship to the grade assigned to the paper
in final form. What is being evaluated is the process of planning
and drafting a paper, not the paper itself.
The three points for which I mostly check both outline and
draft are 1) appropriate choice of subject; 2) sufficiently explicit
and clearly defined purpose statement, hypothesis, or question to
be answered by the paper; 3) sufficiently organized structure of the
body of the paper.
Topic assignments almost invariably call for the application of
some sort of theory to a specific set of “real-world” data. That’s
what social science is about. Getting typical American students to
deal with theory beyond the most facile generalizations (“democracy si, communism no”) is a painful process.
As I’ve already indicated, the purpose statement tends to be a
major stumbling block. Often this is symptomatic of student failure
to focus sufficiently on a clearly defined problem. This is perhaps
the main reason for insisting that the purpose statement be elaborated in substantial detail. This is also a general perception that the
title of the paper can adequately take care of that. I often urge
students to formulate an actual question that the paper will finally
answer in a head-on fashion—preferably not one that can be
answered simply yes or no. Of course, testing a hypothesis as true
or false does just that, but it should present many if’s and but’s and
gray areas whose pro or con evidence is discussed.
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses
147
One line of reasoning I like to give students for carefully
delineating a research question goes like this: Here’s one option.
With the question you have now, go to the library and collect
everything that seems to vaguely relate to it until you have enough
to fill “n” pages—the length of the paper suggested in the assignment instructions. Simply fill 15 pages to satisfy grouchy old
Schlesinger. The other option is this: if you have a definite
question to answer, the things you find in your research will either
help answer it or not, and the length of the paper will derive to a
large extent from that. In the end you’ll have the true satisfaction
of having answered the question, rather than just having filled
pages. One of my favorite graduate school profs defined explanation, I remind them, as “when the mind comes to rest.”
The purpose statement should be followed by an equally
explicit preview of the organization of the paper, i.e., how the
reader will be taken from point A to point Z. Like good speakers,
the paper should tell the reader where (e.g., what assumptions or
historical takeoff lines) it “comes from,” how it proposes to
proceed onward, and where it expects to end up. Suspense and
surprise are great in other kinds of writing, but have, as a general
rule, no place in a social science paper. A typical exception might
be some especially startling evidence.
Students preparing more advanced and comprehensive papers
are urged to attempt some overview and discussion of the existing
literature on their subject. This should lead rather naturally to an
explanation of the student’s particular choice of sources for the
paper at hand and can, in some cases, be supplemented by a
requirement that the bibliography be annotated.
An obvious follow-up for the structural preview is the use of
sub- headings. These help the student-author to stay organized as
much as they do the reader. For students who have the least
experience with formal papers and whose mind is again set on
148 Writing Across the Curriculum
writing in a more story-telling, rather than analytic style, this
suggestion seems at times downright offensive. Why do you want
to break up my beautifully flowing prose with your painfully
obvious signposts? I like to be subtle, to make my reader feel and
think. Sorry, Benny. There should be absolutely no doubt where
the reader is at any given point in following your thoughts.
And as for the feeling, believe it or not, we do very much
encourage it, but not by vagueness about the flow of the argument.
Rather, the feelings should be engaged by clearly identifying the
values implicit in specific choices of data, or problem formulations, and preferences adopted to resolve doubts. Once values are
clarified, personal choices are strongly encouraged. The instructions typically contain statements such as “A good paper will
contain some part of yourself, or your own personality; it will
reflect and clearly convey to the reader your position on the values
at issues.”
The question of values often arises with the choice of evidence.
It is sometimes mistakenly assumed that social science instructors
require “balanced” middle-of-the-road papers which end up lukewarm. This arises from confusion between presentation of evidence, its evaluation, and implied policy choices. Social science
does indeed require that the selection of evidence avoid a priori
bias; it requires that a representative sample of evidence be
presented and that evidence on all sides of the issue be discussed.
And, contrary to what is unfortunately taught by debating and
reinforced by American law, there are invariably more than two.
The value choices associated with “feelings” should emerge in the
interpretation of the evidence and most of all in the evaluation of
policies that inevitably derive from these.
Some Taboos:
• When assigned comparison of “X” policy in countries A and B,
a frequent result is what I call the tandem comparison. Eight pages
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses 149
of country A, eight pages
of country B, and a page and a half of
“comparison.” Comparison should be conceptually organized.
• Usually, but not always, I urge avoidance of the sexiest subject
of the day. A current example is terrorism. Despite the obvious
motivation that comes from current relevance, the beginner’s
learning in social science benefits from a certain amount of
distance. When one is nearly overwhelmed by the daily headlines,
and by the liberties which the press takes with concepts and terms,
that distance is reduced to zero. However, if the assignments lead
students to dull topics, eventually there is retribution: once, when
a professor moaned about the dull pile of student papers he had to
read, a colleague replied, “You must make dull assignments.”
• “Sending away” for material is a scourge. I suspect students learn
this from some teachers in K-12 who tend to abuse the public
relations resources of government, corporations, foreign embassies, and international organizations by having their classes write
them for brochures and press releases. This rarely produces anything that couldn’t have been found in the school library, except
that the illustrations can be used in cut and paste fashion. For
college papers the practice usually results in late papers and is
detrimental to serious research and thoughtful analysis. Most of
those who distribute a lot of material have big public relations axes
to grind. I don’t know where some of this nonsense (and surely
the related plague of cut-and-paste as “learning”)
originates, but it’s not my idea of education.
Evaluation and Conclusion
Social science writing assignments consist of a few rules:
1. Careful choice of topic.
2 Explicit and detailed statement of the problem being addressed.
3. Fully discernible structure and organization of the material.
4. Linkage of social science abstraction and generalizations to
150 Writing Across the Curriculum
“data”—concrete historical events—as well as personal experience
and values.
5. Proper use and evaluation of appropriate sources.
While I know what I try to teach, I clearly have no better way
than anyone else of determining exactly what or how much of that
students learn from formal social science paper assignments. At the
lowest, most direct level, it may be the instrumental value of
familiarity with the kind of papers that will be demanded of them
in graduate school. We all have the occasional good fortune of
observing that a senior’s paper is much better than earlier work.
Yet the cause for that improvement may lie in anything from daily
flossing to the regular Thursday night partying.
Thus the nagging final question remains how to measure what
and how much my writing assignments achieve? Guess you’d
better ask Benny... perhaps after his first few months of grad
school, or some time on a job where he must prepare and present
reports.
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(1996)
Revisiting “Writing Assignments in World
Politics Courses”
In revisiting the piece, one question I asked myself was
whether it addressed the problem of conventionalism, of mere form
vs. good writing. My conclusion was affirmative, because I made
it clear at the end of the article that I saw my teaching objective
at least partly in training the student to become a successful
graduate student, i.e. equipping the student to “do” social science,
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses
151
perhaps eventually to get published in social science. At the entry
level that means learning to wield the basic tools of the craft, to
know and abide by the accepted conventions. For anyone to make
up for the lack of that with creativity and originality, to sidestep
that as a beginner, would require powerful content at true genius
level.
Next, I asked what changes have occurred? Has the passage of
time made a difference? And indeed, major change did occur in
the research environment with the advent of the World Wide Web.
In the original article I grouched about:
1) students occasionally wanting to send away for information;
2) the superficial and uniform results produced by the
apparent convenience of searching in computerized indexes on CD
data bases in the college library, rather than conventional indices.
Regarding point 1), to the extent that high schools are acquiring computers and access to the World Wide Web, it is hard to
imagine high school teachers nowadays encouraging them to send
away for information. Instead, I imagine they’re being encouraged
to obtain information on the Web, and that can produce extremely
diverse results, dependent as greatly on imagination and intellectual acuity as working with traditional materials.
Having retired at the end of 1994, I’ve not experienced the
results of work along these lines, but have extensively “surfed”
information resources on the Web and created a research-oriented
Web site. The richness of sources “out there” is beyond belief. It
evokes the metaphor of a true universe.
For example, there are a substantial number of different search
engines available and well known on the Web. Just depending on
which of these one uses, not to mention, of course, what keyword
formulations and combinations one searches, and which leads and
152 Writing Across the Curriculum
threads one then pursues, the results will vary infinitely.
Thus I would guess that if college students today are encouraged to do their research on the Web, the outcomes may well be
enhanced. Among other things, some academic journals and major
newspapers and magazines have on-line editions that are searchable. In any case, the dreary uniformity that came from the nearmonopoly (among electronic media) of a few CD’s can now be
avoided provided students are counseled in this respect.
My main thrust would be to have students understand how to
use Web searching to obtain ideas that would lead to more
interesting choices among conventional hard copy sources. To
enhance and better focus their reading rather than replace it.
Shortly after its publication, I had selected advanced course
students read “Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses”
occasionally as a way to reinforce the importance of carefully
formulating research question, outlining, and using headings. This
was quite helpful in one or two instances. My harping on these
things apparently no longer struck them as merely picky harping ...
being difficult... once they saw that it had been put in print. The
old “magic” of believing what one reads still persists to some
degree.
A bizarre thought occurs: What would a video on writing
papers, prepared by the instructor, do? Might we have more
credibility coming out of the VCR onto the screen, than in the
classroom or face-to-face in the office?
Finally, I asked two professional colleagues to review “Writing
Assignments in World Politics Courses” and comment. A relatively young colleague found the article failing to maintain the
same order of items in preview statements as in later discussing
Writing Assignments in World Politics Courses
153
them. I introduce them in one order, then discuss them in another.
She turned out to be dead-right on this.
As a member of my discipline, this colleague also wished I had
been more precise in delineating specific objectives, techniques,
and types of analysis. This raises the question of audience for the
piece and its level of analysis and technical depth. She also
correctly points to the problem of explaining the conceptual, rather
than geographical or chronological organization, in comparative
analysis.
Overall, she agreed with the basic point of teaching social
science writing in a different way, and with the emphasis on
planning and drafting papers, stating that the article “forced me to
think more seriously about how to improve my writing assignments and evaluation of world politics papers.”
Another quite experienced colleague at the state university
found the article useful, agreeing “totally with the point that our
writing requirements are totally different than those ‘taught’ in
English 101.” He related that in his introductory courses he must
engage in complete “hand-holding,” assigning a highly pre-structured paper, guiding the students through every single step in a
prescribed format, and penalizing for deviation. He says that he’s
“gotten good results for being a bastard on detail.”
That sounds very much like my own experience and like some
of what I had tried to convey in the piece.
154 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
Writing in the Computer Science
Curriculum
William J. Taffe
Why Writing Is Necessary
College students in career-oriented majors such as computer
science have two curricular thrusts, professional studies and general education. Writing is an important component of each.
Led by the ubiquitous freshman composition course, writing
has long been prominent in American general education. Following this introduction, the term papers usually assigned in literature
and history courses build additional skill in a particular type of
writing - the research paper. Recently, however, many academics
have recognized that writing education cannot be isolated to a few
courses and have advocated a much broader approach called
“Writing Across the Curriculum.” Ideas advocated by Writing
Across the Curriculum proponents are beginning to influence
Computer Science curricula.(1)
Unfortunately, in some science and engineering curricula, the
importance of writing is not yet recognized. Perhaps it is because
some faculty in technical curricula feel that writing should be
taught in general education or that they are not competent to teach
Writing in the Computer Science Curriculum
155
writing. Perhaps it is because some technical students have more
difficulty with writing than do humanities or social science students, suggesting that more, not less, writing instruction is needed.
Perhaps it is because technical students sometimes tend to concentrate more on symbolic expression and less on the development of
natural language. In addition, programming language skill development or communication with machines may crowd out the
development of human-to-human communication and possibly
lead computer science students to shortchange this facet of their
education. Indeed, the stereotypical “nerd” is often portrayed as
impoverished in written and oral human language skills.(2)
However, our computer science students need strengthened
communication skills, not only for personal enrichment, but also
for professional activity. Computer scientists must communicate
with each other as clearly as with their machines. And, an extremely important Computer Science subdiscipline, the “manmachine interface,” clearly rests on a thorough understanding of
human communication.
Modes of Writing in Computer Science Courses
There seem to be three categories which adequately describe
most of the writing used in Computer Science courses: writing to
develop facility with the specialized language of the discipline,
writing to explain results of a study, and writing as a process for
clarification of fuzzy ideas. The first two categories are the most
common, but the distinction between them is frequently lost. This
is unfortunate because they require different skills. A student’s
lack of facility with the technical language can be mistaken by the
instructor for an inability to organize thought; likewise, disorganized thinking may be passed off as merely a lack of writing skill.
156 Writing Across the Curriculum
The last category, clarification of thinking, although possibly
new to computer science faculty, has important pedagogical potential. Teachers of writing recognize that the process of writing about
a topic helps clarify the writer’s thinking.(3) The simplistic model:
1. Collect all thoughts
2. Write them down
has yielded to the recognition of a feedback loop in the thinkingwriting process. Attempting to express an idea often sharpens and
clarifies the concept, frequently exposes lacunae in the thought
chain, and possibly creates new questions. Thus, writing to clarify
thinking may be an emerging tool for the Computer Science
educator.
Developing Professional Language Facility
In a specialized discipline there are many new terms, phrasings,
and modes of expression which have evolved to allow specialists
to communicate more efficiently. When abused they create jargon,
but their proper use is necessary if students are to fully join the
professional community. This cannot be done passively; students
must practice professional writing on a regular basis.
Since learning two things simultaneously is difficult, learning
to use this new professional language and concurrently learning to
organize professional material is often too large a first step for
many students. For them, the first writing assignments in the
discipline should be straightforward. An assignment I have used
successfully is the writing of summaries.(4) Students are asked to
choose an article from a recent issue of a technical journal and
summarize it. Although students must be able to abstract essential
points, the original article generally provides the organization for
the summary and examples of using the professional language.
Students learn to express themselves professionally by mimicking
Writing Assignments in the Computer Science Curriculum
157
professionals in their use of specialized terminology. Plagiarism is
clearly a concern and needs to be discussed with the students
straightforwardly. Happily, this assignment also has several beneficial side-effects which are described in the reference cited.
Learning to Organize and Present Professional Results
A second level of technical language skill is organization and
presentation of the results of a study. In the natural sciences, this
is often a laboratory report. In Computer Science, it can assume
several formats and is currently used in a variety of courses.(5) In
the laboratory portion of my Computer Architecture course, I
generally give an experiment which is somewhat open-ended and
ask for a standard laboratory report. In addition to specialized
language and organizational skills, students learn to combine text
and graphics to explain their results.
This term in Computer Graphics, I am attempting a similar
approach through an open-ended programming project. The students are asked to develop three “typeface characters” in two
different fonts and examine various problems associated with
rendering these fonts on a computer screen. They are asked to
explain what they did, what problems resulted, and how the
problems were (or weren’t) overcome.
Systems analysis courses are “naturals” for writing, and several
authors have described the written assignments given to their
students.(6) The discipline demands written materials of varying
types, such as user questionnaires and diaries, formal specifications, project correspondence, system documentation, requests for
proposals or quotations, the final report, and standards for the
analysis process itself. Technical writing is crucial for the systems
analyst and “Systems Analysis and Design” courses often require
the preparation of technical material.
158 Writing Across the Curriculum
Because oral communication skill is equal in importance to its
written counterpart, Computer Science students also need opportunities to enhance their presentation skills.(7) In our curriculum
several courses present the occasion for brief oral reports, but the
best opportunity to practice presentation skills is in the required
senior-project course, “Directed Study in Computer Applications.”
In a multi-presentation colloquium at the semester’s end, each
student presents a 30 minute project report to an audience consisting of the department faculty and fellow seniors. Faculty coach
students in the preparation of their talks, showing them how to
develop effective presentations.
Development of Thinking
Earlier I described the feedback loop that exists in the thinkingwriting system. The writing process forces the writer to clarify
thinking by exposing the holes in a progression of ideas and
frequently raising new questions. Presenting an idea improves the
idea, a concept familiarly expressed through the teachers’ adage
“the best way to learn a subject is to teach it.” Computer Science
faculty are beginning to use writing to help their students understand Computer Science better.
Assignments which require students to express their thinking
about problems and concepts may help the student sharpen their
understanding of concepts.(8) Getting students to carefully pose
questions about the subject may lead them to think about the
answers. I have assigned as a homework problem, “Write a
potential question for the next hour exam, and explain what this
question measures about knowledge of the subject.” In addition to
the wonderful side-effect of giving me some great exam questions,
answering this question helps students focus and clarify their own
knowledge.
Writing Assignments in the Computer Science Curriculum
159
My colleague Peggy Eaton formalized this approach last spring
during her “Organization of Programming Languages” course. She
broadened the traditional concept of the course notebook by requiring her students to keep a Programming Languages Journal. The
journal contained lecture notes, but also notes taken while studying. More importantly, in the journal students wrote down concepts
or ideas they didn’t understand. In the process of explaining what
confused them, they often removed the confusion, and if not, they
had a well-focused question for class discussion. Writing helped
students learn Computer Science.
Summary
Writing is both an end and a means. Computer Science students need to write to communicate, and professional writing must
be taught in Computer Science courses as a continuation of the
more general writing instruction of general education courses. But
also, through the process of writing, writers are forced to clarify
their thinking. By this means students have an additional tool for
learning Computer Science.
Notes
(1) Hartman, Janet D., “Writing to Learn and Communicate in a
Data Structures Course,” SIGSCE Bulletin, February 1989: 32-36.
(2) For example, see the Dick Tracy comic strips for the weeks of
February 25 and March 5, 1989.
(3) For example, New Directions for Teaching and Learning:
Teaching
Writing in All Disciplines, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1982.
(4) Taffe, William J. “Teaching Computer Science Through Writing.” SIGSCE Bulletin June 1986: 82-83. See also Flaningam,
Dona Lee, and Warriner, Sandra “Another Way to Teach Com-
160 Writing Across the Curriculum
puter Science Through Writing.” SIGSCE Bulletin September 1987:
15-16.
(5) See Quirk, James R. F. “Teaching Computer Networks and a
Writing Intensive Course.” SIGSCE Bulletin, June 1988: 30-35,
and Brown, Dale A., “Requiring CS1 Students of Write Requirements Specifications: A Rationale, Implementation Suggestions,
and a Case Study.” SIGSCE Bulletin, February 1988: 13-16.
(6) For example, Jordan, Donald L., “Integrating Desktop Publishing into a Systems Analysis and Design Course.” SIGSCE Bulletin,. February 1989: 74-77.
(7) Cote, Vianney. “Teaching Oral Communication in Computer
Science.” SIGSCE Bulletin, June 1987: 58-60.
(8) Hartman, p. 34, The microthemes on “supporting a thesis” and
“quandary posing.”
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(1997)
Did I Really Write That?
A Retrospective Introspection
It was a good experience to reread my thoughts expressed in
that first issue of The PSC Journal of Writing Across the Curriculum. As I read, I began to ask myself “do I still believe what I
said?”, and “do I still practice what I preached?” Well, yes and no.
Yes, I still believe it, but I’ve “backslid” a bit.
Thinking about the uses of writing, and its importance in the
learning process, makes me remember some of the successes my
students have had in developing their expressive abilities and
cognitive capacities through that written expression. Early in the
Writing Assignments in the Computer Science Curriculum
161
semester, many students in my senior-level “W” course in computer design express disbelief at the writing assignments, a disbelief that evolves into dismay when they discover that I’m serious
about writing. However, as the semester progresses, little-by-little
they grudgingly tend to accept the notion that as computer professionals they will have to write proposals, reports, documentation
and other forms of tangible instantiations of their ideas, and they
begin to put some effort into writing clearly and expressively.
Some even begin to enjoy the challenge of saying something
clearly, though they usually won’t admit it. As the semester
progresses, I see the evidence of their efforts. Gradually, the papers
begin to become coherent, then a bit polished, and by semester’s
end, some are even writing like professionals. They have it in
them; it just needs to be induced to come out.
But there’s a price--and I pay a large part of it. The steady
pressure required to persuade students to do what they often insist
is irrelevant, useless, and is perhaps even an “unnatural act” for a
computer scientist, takes its toll. Consoling the student who gets a
rejection slip (“This writing is not at an acceptable level for a
college senior - rewrite.”) demands a lot of physic energy. Working with students who have weak organizational skills on documents where text, tables and graphics need be coordinated into a
coherent package can be exhausting. I read, in this Journal, suggestions from colleagues about “how to read papers without having to
read papers” but I haven’t mastered the art. I still find reading
papers to be labor intensive, hard work.
So, I’ve backslid a bit. I still give writing assignments, but I
give them less frequently. And sometimes I tend to refine the
assignments so that the writing “fits a template,” allowing students
to slide through with less thinking. And at times I accept a still
weak third draft of a paper just so that I don’t have to read it once
again. I hear President Wharton say, “We must raise our expectations of performance for students ...” but I also hear myself ask
162 Writing Across the Curriculum
“what is reasonable to expect from a generation that doesn’t read?”
So it was good to reread what I wrote eight years ago. I am
pleased that after almost a decade, I really have no argument with
myself on this matter. But I do have to think about my ideals and
what I’m doing to reach them. I need to remember the fervor I (we)
had when “writing across the curriculum” was new to PSC, and
ask how to rekindle it. I should concentrate on the successes and
not on the obstacles that arise as surely as potholes in the roads of
spring. It was good to see my reflection in the mirror.
Writing
Experiences
164 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1993)
Writing in the Capstone Experience:
Psychology Encounters Literature
Henry E. Vittum and Robert S. Miller
In Four Parts:
I. by Henry E. Vittum and Robert S. Miller
II. by Donald Hundgen
III. by Robert Miller
IV. by Henry E. Vittum and Robert S. Miller
Courses that satisfy the integrative component of Plymouth’s
General Education program invite, if not necessitate, the use of
frequent and varied writing assignments. A supporting document
presented to the faculty in 1985 in favor the then-new General
Education program described an integrative course this way:
“The course should be a capstone or culminating experience for
the student.... A significant level of analysis and synthesis is
expected as opposed to simple presentation of facts and theories.” The present General Education Handbook adds, “To the
extent possible, the process of integrating material is achieved
through extensive discussion and collaborative learning experiences rather than lecture, as well as through frequent writing
assignments as practiced in WAC pedagogy.”
Psychology and Literature, which has the distinction of being
the first course at Plymouth given the integrative label, was
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
165
offered for the first time in the Spring 1988 semester with an
enrollment of just nine students. We, the two instructors, had spent
close to a year preparing and planning. We had decided the course
would compare three important theoretical approaches to psychology. The basis for comparison would be to ask which of the
approaches was most useful in analyzing literature and to ask
which approach seemed best supported, if the content of literature
were examined as a sort of “behavioral sample.”
That first time, we studied the theories of three psychoanalysts:
Freud, Jung, and Erikson; one radical behaviorist, B.F. Skinner;
and three humanists: Rogers, Maslow, and Horney. After the
class spent a week reading and discussing each approach, we spent
several weeks reading works of literature that might be interpreted
in that theoretical context.
For the psychoanalytic unit the choices were Eliot’s “The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Shaffer’s Equus, Lawrence’s Sons
and Lovers and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. For the behavioristic unit
we chose Skinner’s Walden Two, Orwell’s 1984, Dostoevsky’s The
Possessed, and Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. For the humanistic
unit, we decided to read Chopin’s The Awakening, Ibsen’s A Doll’s
House, Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons, and Hawthorne’s The Scarlet
Letter.
We used a variety of writing assignments to facilitate learning.
Most classes began with a five-minute quiz on the day’s reading
assignment. These quizzes served to motivate timely completion
of these assignments and to stimulate discussion. The students
wrote a research paper designed to deepen their appreciation of one
of the psychological theories and a critical essay designed to allow
them to practice applying psychology to literary criticism. (In later
years we added a journal. That first time we were not so WAC
literate as we are now!)
166 Writing Across the Curriculum
The most successful writing assignment, however, the one that
clearly necessitated synthesis, was given in place of a final exam.
Each student and each instructor was to write an imaginative paper
describing one of the psychologists we had studied engaged in
conversation with one of the literary characters we had encountered. We were to place these individuals in a particular setting
and write a dialogue that might occur between them.
Everyone brought these papers to the final exam meeting. That
session was spent reading them to one another. Since most of us
made liberal use of humor in these creations, the meeting was a
most enjoyable ending for the course. More importantly, the papers
took us in new directions and gave us new insights. They
provided, we thought, clear evidence that the kind of synthesis that
is supposed to occur in an integrative course had happened.
In the first publication of this article (Volume 4 of this journal)
we included four examples of the papers, those written by the two
instructors and by two of the students. Here we reprint one of
each type. The student, Donald Hundgen, received a BA from
Plymouth in 1992 with a major in English and a minor in psychology. He presently runs a successful graphics design business here
in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
*
*
*
New Roses for Jude Fawley
by Donald Hundgen
Jude Fawley had gone off on another of his self-mortifying
drinking binges. It was like the lines from a poem by A.E.
Housman:
Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think:
Look into the pewter pot
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
167
To see the world as the world’s not.
And faith, ’tis pleasant till ’tis past:
The mischief is that ‘twill not last.
And poor, wretched Jude did not so readily awake from his
perfidious potations. Rather for a while did he linger in the
quagmire of his inebriated subconscious, finding himself ensnared
within the grasp of a most singular dream.
His eyelids, all sticky and sore, did pry themselves open to yet
another darkness from the one they had hoped to escape by
opening. He was in a dark, strange room reclined upon a sofa, the
structure and material of which he had never encountered in a
sober state. The chamber had an odd aroma to it, of clean metal
and wood and other substances he could not begin to name. After
some interval of bleary scrutiny, he observed, sitting in crepuscular
shadows at a very ponderous desk, just barely revealed in the light
of a single, small lamp, the shape of a middle-aged woman who
was apparently busy at writing something. Being not a little
disoriented, Jude contrived a scheme whereby he might attract the
attention of this nocturnal apparition. He groaned miserably.
The woman looked up and was indeed startled to behold so
disheveled and unhappy a sight as Jude Fawley upon her couch. It
was not simply Jude’s identity that surprised her, for she could not
clearly perceive this in the darkness, but the fact that anyone at all
should be sprawled upon the sofa.
“My goodness!” she exclaimed, She had a slight accent that
her visitor could not immediately place. “Now, who may you be?”
she inquired. “We are after hours here, and I don’t recall hearing
you enter. If something is troubling you, it may be that we can set
up an intake appointment for you. As it stands, I am not seeing
many people at this time. You see, I am writing a book.”
Jude, who has always had a weakness for books, picked
himself up into an erect position on the sofa. “What-what kind of
book?” he slurred.
168 Writing Across the Curriculum
“Neurosis in Our Time it will be called. It’s really a very
serious problem.”
“New Roses? New Roses, you say? In our time? Ah a
romance! That sounds very nice,” confessed Jude. “Yes, we do
need more new roses. Can never have enough of them.”
“You don’t exactly get my meaning,” said the woman patiently.
“What time is it anyway?” Jude asked.
“It’s late. After hours!” The woman looked just the smallest
bit disturbed. Unable to see her company very clearly, she
adjusted the lamp so that it cast greater illumination on the setting
of their conversation. “Good heavens!” she cried. “You look as
though you stepped out of a book yourself! Some dusty Victorian
novel!”
“Victorian?” mused Jude. “Now that’s a name that rings a
faint bell, though I cannot say why.”
“What is your name?” the woman asked finally.
“Jude. Jude Fawley.”
The woman was silent for a moment. “This is very peculiar,”
she muttered to herself. “Your name—is—familiar.” She observed the curly black hair and the wan, desperate look of a
character from literature. The clothes were certainly not up-todate, but then some people fancied antique clothing. “I suppose,”
she said, “you are the Jude Fawley of Christminster, and in the
acquaintance of—”
“Two very troublesome ladies!” cried Jude, leaping to his feet
but almost falling. “How is it you know me and I don’t know you?
Who are you?”
“I am a doctor. Dr. Horney, Karen Horney, a psychoanalyst. I
know you because I’m afraid you have a rather broad reputation.”
“Is that so!” said Jude, collapsing again onto the sofa. “Now
what have you heard?”
“I think it would be more appropriate if you tell me about
yourself, because I may have heard incorrectly.”
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
169
“That may be true. But you are a doctor, you say? A lady
doctor? Ha!” Jude looked amazed.
“I am.”
“And what was that other word? Sicko—sicko—”
“Psychoanalyst.”
“Is that some new approach? It is Christian or more the model
of Aristotle?”
“Neither, exactly. Have you heard of Freud?”
“I can’t say that I have,” admitted Jude, scratching his head.
“Sounds German. The Germans are so esoteric. Well, what are
you writing about new roses for?”
“NEUROSIS!” corrected the doctor. “It’s quite a serious
problem, you know. Actually, you should know very well, Jude,
from what I have heard.”
“What have you heard? Has Arabella been to see you?” Jude
suddenly looked frightened.
“Ha ha ha, no, no, nothing like that.”
“Where am I anyway?”
“The Horney Institute in New York City. It’s summer and the
year is 19—”
“19—! New York City! I seem to have misplaced myself
worse than ever!”
“That would appear to be the case, Jude.”
“Damn demon alcohol!”
“No doubt it has played a part. Tell me, Jude, have you made
any progress with resolving that—uh—conflict in your life? The
two women; and that other matter?”
Jude groaned. “Ah, that is hopeless! Sue has returned to that
crotchety old twit Phillotson and Arabella—she’ll sleep with anyone who will marry her and help her pay the bills! Things are as
hopeless as ever.”
“It doesn’t sound as if you are very happy.”
“Would you be?” cried Jude. “As to the women, well, they
both have their qualities. If only God could work a miracle and
170 Writing Across the Curriculum
combine ‘em together! As they are they are no good to themselves
and no good to me. But why am I telling you all this?”
“It is natural, Jude, to want to resolve such problems and talk
them out. I am perhaps the best person to tell your problems to.
That’s what psychoanalysts are for, to help people sort out their
inner conflicts.”
“Inner conflicts! There is nothing inner about Arabella and
Sue! It’s all as plain as day to me!”
“And you have no conflicts inside of you?”
I have a bit of gas and a headache coming on. I believe it’s not
quite respectable for me to be here with you—spilling my woes to
a strange lady doctor. Lady doctor! I’ve never heard of such a
thing! It’s almost as preposterous as that quack we have in our
town. Vilbert’s his name. At least he’s got cures to sell. What
have you got? Still, I could trust him about as far as I could throw
a fit!”
“You are insightful in that, I suspect,” said Dr. Horney.
“Ah flattery means nothing to me. But yes, I’m not the halfwit it would seem. I’ve read a good many books on difficult
subjects. I thought I’d be a learned man, once upon a time, but
providence has had other things in mind.”
“Are you dissatisfied with yourself?” asked the doctor with a
sincere tone.
“With myself? Never! You always bring it back to me!
That’s rather unfair of you, just as life has been unfair to me. I was
ready to go to Christminster! I would have gone and made a fine
scholar! The old churls in their mortarboards wouldn’t have it.
Just because I was a poor bloke and had a skill! Why, I built the
very roofs over their heads so they could fall asleep reading their
fine books!”
“You sound as if you have something to be proud about, but
instead you are very bitter, Jude.”
“It’s not what I wanted. I was capable of more. I still am! But
no one will have it.”
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
171
“Could it be that you are angry because you could not live out
your ideal self?”
“Posh! I would have if I could have! Imagine locking
someone out of a future course because of a silly prejudice! Jude
the stone mason! And you! A lady doctor! That comes close to
straightening my curls! These must be different times indeed. I
must admit that you sound fairly learned for a woman. Arabella—
now she’s got a figure to bring the troops home, but a brain like
an empty barrel. If only there were a way to put some of her flesh
on Sue, and maybe a dash of her practical sense, then Sue would
be an angel! Well, she already is an angel, but—”
“Is she really?”
“Why yes, but—but—what is all this anyway?”
“Sue would be ideal then, wouldn’t she? And it would have
been ideal, if only they’d said: ‘Jude Fawley, come to Christminster!
You set your aspirations pretty high, and they were disappointed
time and time again.”
“Well, shouldn’t one have high hopes?” cried Jude indignantly.
“It is good to have goals, so long as they are realistic, Jude.
One must be in touch with reality as much as one’s dreams and
ideals. Reality is a very complex thing.”
“Reality, you say! Reality is insufferable, Miss—Miss—”
“Horney. Yes, reality can be difficult. Living in society can
be difficult. Sometimes we have conflicting needs, and reality does
not make it easy for us. We might settle for a good fantasy. Or go
drinking.”
“Fantasy! Fantasy, you say! My life has been more than a
fantasy!”
“It most certainly has, Jude. You have touched many people in
very real ways, and yet you torture yourself because you can’t
seem to make up your mind over these two women, and because
you couldn’t go to college. You have a lot going for you just as
you are, except that maybe you need to take a shower, stay away
from liquor, and talk to someone about your inner conflicts. Did
172 Writing Across the Curriculum
you know that liquor kills brain cells?”
By this time, Jude was fuming. “Brain cells!” he screamed in
anguish.
“You seem to be suffering from a serious neurosis.”
“New roses again!” snarled the man writhing on the couch. “I
am going to lose my mind talking to you!” New roses indeed!
You are quite the romantic. Sue would like you.”
“Not new roses! Neurosis! That’s a disease suffered by people
who are out of touch with their real selves.”
“Real selves!”
“Yes.”
“What’s a real self? How can a self be anything but real?”
“Jude, have you ever felt you were not being yourself?”
“There have been times when I’d have liked to plead that, but
it’s always been far too real.”
“Exactly. You are always real, or you always have that
potential; but you think otherwise, and you make yourself jump
through hoops. You torture yourself with impossible—”
“There you go again with this torture business. It’s not me who
is doing the torturing! It’s them! It’s you!”
“Yes, it often does seem like someone else is doing the
torturing. That is called psychological projection, a kind of
disowning of the self. But you are the one who is doing it.”
“How is it that you know so much about me?”
“I have read your chart, Jude.”
“My chart, where is it? I must see it!”
“It is in every good bookstore and library. You are indeed well
known.”
“Oh, my God!” Jude gripped his skull and made a horrifying
grimace. “The whole world knows about me?”
“It’s generally not our procedure to be so indiscreet, Mr.
Fawley, but I’m afraid that you have come to us a little late.
Society has been bold, to say nothing of art and literature. It is
mostly the fault of a man named Thomas Hardy.”
“Hardy, you say?”
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
173
“I wouldn’t be angry at him. He was just trying to be his real
self, but I understand it puts you in an awkward predicament. He’s
written quite an insightful account of your life, by the way. I
would try to get a copy if I were you. It might inspire you to come
back and see me for further conversation. I’ll give you a special
rate, because this would be a rather special case.” Dr. Horney
paused and watched her unexpected client watching her across the
darkness. “I’m afraid our fifty minutes is up. Do you have a place
to stay, Jude?”
“Oh, it does not matter,” moaned the wretched figure as he
stood up. “If I am as well known as you say, someone is bound to
take me in.”
“Indeed, many people have, Jude,” she said warmly. “I dare
say you have many sympathetic fans. And there are many people
in the world just like you, even today. That’s why I am writing my
book.” She rose from her desk and fetched something out of the
shadows. It was a book.
“Here is another volume I have written.”
Jude looked at the title. “Our Inner Conflicts. Is this about
new roses also?”
“It will tell you all you really need to know, Jude. But do come
again. It’s been—it’s been very real.”
*
*
*
Psychology and Literature Final Exam
by Robert S. Miller
“There will be another joining us in a while. Meantime why
don’t each of you three begin by telling the others how you come
to be here,” Dr. Horney said and turned to the woman seated on
her immediate left.
“I really do not know,” Edna began. “I was swimming. I was
feeling at peace. I was feeling a part of the sea. I remembered my
father and a man I used to know and then I could smell flowers—
174 Writing Across the Curriculum
the flowers that bloomed in June by the doorstep when I was a girl.
Then somehow I was traveling. A strange woman was my
companion and seemed to be taking me somewhere. I was clothed
and dry and felt I was soaring through space. The old woman
explained I was, and through time too. She said we were going to
New York City to the year 1950 to see a doctor. I thought it very
odd.”
Nora interrupted, “Why that must have been the same old
woman who brought me here. I had just walked out of my house.
I stood for a moment outside the door. I was wondering where to
go next and whatever to do when she appeared out of the shadows.
“Just follow me,” she said. She said a doctor wanted to see me.
I thought she meant my friend Dr. Rank, that he must have
changed his mind. I hesitated because she was so strange. But
then she offered me a macaroon, so I followed her. What a strange
old woman she was; I wondered who she could have been.”
“That must have been Mistress Hibbins,” Hester stated. “She
has special powers and brought us here also. She seemed to realize
I was thinking of taking little Pearl away for a while. The child is
now an heiress and needs to learn something more of the world.
Mistress Hibbins approached me and said she had just become
Boston’s first travel agent and volunteered to make all the arrangements.”
“Oh, was that your little girl I saw on my way in?” Nora
inquired.
“Yes,” Hester replied.
“Oh, how I love children,” Nora said. “I have three of my
own. We play and play. I’ll miss playing with them. Maybe I
could play with little Pearl.”
“As I recall, I have two children,” Edna said apparently to
herself. “I think they’re boys.”
“I usually don’t entrust little Pearl to strangers, but she took
kindly to that woman at the desk—they’re going to the park. Pearl
likes trees.”
“Your Pearl will be just fine,” Dr. Horney assured Hester.
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
175
“I’ve made such progress helping Madame Stavrogin develop her
repressed maternal tendencies. And she’s a wonderful receptionist—so social. Mistress Hibbins found her for me in Russia—
apparently she was leading quite a meaningless life.”
“So Mistress Hibbins works for you,” Hester said.
“Yes,” Dr. Horney admitted. “She showed up here one day
and claimed she could travel around time and literature and find
interesting people for me to study. I figured she was a harmless
narcissist and I’d humor her. So I said, ‘Okay, lady, find me
someone who’ll make me take seriously what Freud said about the
Oedipus complex.” The next day in she walks with this guy, Paul
Morel. Good grief, such a mother complex! We’ve been at it ever
since, Mistress Hibbins and I. It was only sometime later that it
occurred to me she could also find me cheap help. Do you realize
what a New York employment agency would have charged to find
a receptionist like Varvara?”
“Maybe you should explain just why you’ve brought the three
of us here together,” Hester said with just a hint of impatience in
her voice.
“The four of you, actually—there’s one still to arrive. I’m in
the process of refining my feminist psychoanalysis. I’ve broken
with Freud in part because of his utterly incorrect ideas about the
psychology of women. Why the bias that man himself displayed
in comparing male and female development is practically by itself
sufficient proof of the existence of womb envy. Penis envy
indeed!”
Edna felt faint. Hester stared at Dr. Horney. Nora spoke.
“Why, Dr. Horney, what on Earth is womb envy?”
“Nora, you of all people should know, having been married for
a number of years to a veritable personification of the concept.”
Dr. Horney went on to explain the meaning of the term and
presented a convincing argument that Torvald Helmer indeed
provided a vivid example. “It seems to me far more likely, Nora,”
Dr. Horney concluded, “that Torvald envies you your anatomy
than that you envy him his.”
176 Writing Across the Curriculum
Nora for once seemed lost in thought. Edna fanned herself
with a handy medical journal. Hester attempted to redirect the
conversation. “Dr. Horney, you still have not explained why you
would want to meet the three of us.”
“To study self-realization, of course. The realization of self,
one’s own true inner identity, is, I believe, the ultimate goal of
human life both for women and for men. It is the central concept
in my theory. As I build my feminist psychology, then, I must
study examples of women who have achieved this state or are on
the way to doing so. Such are hard to find in American society of
1950. Present day American culture is male-dominated. To
compensate for their inadequate biological state, womb-envying
men make women feel inferior. They establish obstacles to keep
them out of the workplace and out of the creative professions.”
Nora again appeared thoughtful, and Edna inquired of Dr.
Horney whether a vague sense of deja vu was often a side effect
of time travel. Only Hester seemed unsurprised by what Dr.
Horney had to say.
“The result of all this,” Dr. Horney continued, “is that many
modern American women develop neurotic patterns of feeling and
behaving. I want to study you, because each of you have overcome obstacles not unlike those facing modern women and have
achieved or are on the way to achieving self-realization.
“You, Nora, will be interesting to study because you have just
taken the first step necessary in overcoming what for you was a
long-standing neurotic pattern of the compliant type. You managed when your neurosis was no longer working to make a sudden
break from it. I will be anxious to see where you go from there.
You, Edna, much more gradually overcame your own neurotic
pattern, the resignation type. I believe it was the influence of your
friends Robert and especially Mademoiselle Reisz that brought this
about.”
“Mademoiselle Reisz?” Edna asked quietly.
“Yes, my dear,” Dr. Horney said. “She was the very first to
provide you with the kind of unconditional regard so often associ-
Writing in the Capstone Experience: Psychology Encounters Literature
177
ated with growth.”
“And as for you, Hester. You interest me precisely because I
do not yet know where you got your incredible sense of selfrealization. I know only that it is so strongly established that it has
withstood remarkable threats to its existence. I’ll be especially
interested in comparing you, Hester, to the fourth member of this
group, who is like you in many ways. She too seems to have
always known exactly who she is and how to maintain self in the
face of any adversity. The comparison will be fascinating, however, because each of you has such a different sense of self.”
Before anything else could be said, the door burst open and in
rushed little Pearl.
“Oh, Mother,” little Pearl cried. “Madame Stavrogin has just
introduced me to the most interesting woman. She is out there at
this very moment, and, Mother, you must watch what she has
taught me to do. Look, Mother, she has taught me to make
dimples.”
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(1997)
Afterword
by Henry E. Vittum and Robert S. Miller
Despite the success of this assignment, we never used it again.
That first semester there were only nine students enrolled in the
course. Since then there has always been 25 to 30, too large a
number to accomplish the oral part of this assignment in the final
exam period. Therefore, for practical reasons, we replaced the
assignment with an essay exam, albeit one that always included
one or more questions inviting the kind of creative writing of this
first assignment.
Revisiting this article in Spring 1997 made us regret our
178 Writing Across the Curriculum
practical decision, and we resolved to find a way to adapt the
original assignment to a larger enrollment. We considered several
possible mechanisms for doing so, and decided finally to have all
participants, students and faculty, write assignments in anticipation
of the final exam meeting. This time we decided each person
would write a short short story and a critical essay analyzing the
story in terms of literary and psychological considerations.
The 26 students have been working in four groups of six or
seven all semester. At the final exam meeting, members of each
will read their stories and essays to the group, and the group will
choose the best to share with the rest of the class. The meeting will
end with the four chosen students and the two instructors reading
their works to the entire class. We are hopeful this new assignment will recapture the excitement of that first one.
(1990)
A Journal Revisited
Russell Lord
In my classes journals have lately become one of several
innovative tools to develop fluent and reflective writing. I hesitate,
however, to advocate too great a control over their subject matter
or their method and effectiveness. To be sure, they need to be
encouraged and “checked” periodically to keep many students
active; but just how far to carry this oversight becomes problematic, and I believe that in this case like Thoreau in “On Civil
Disobedience,” perhaps the best government is no government at
all.
I say this with good reason. Recently I looked back at a series
of diary journals I kept during preparatory school and college
years, in which I freely expressed, without thought of audience or
constraint, but with several gaps, observations and judgments
during the period from 1938 to 1945. Motivation for these records
is not hard to understand. Probably the initial reason for keeping
them was that around Christmas time, a local insurance company
kept giving my father fine leather diaries which I hated to see
wasted. Perhaps a stronger motive was the desire to preserve a
record of what was to be (I felt) a remarkable life.
In reading over the record for 1941, a critical year in American
history, I have discovered an account of growing intellectual
180 Writing Across the Curriculum
awareness, but at the same time, a critical self-analysis that
becomes almost stifling in retrospect. On the periphery is the
developing awareness of World War II, which ascends in influence, and then for a time diminishes as personal concerns replace
it. I shall cite a chronological selection of items from the year, my
own second-semester Upper-Middler (Junior) and first semester
Senior years at Andover (note: the following selections are quoted
verbatim, although spelling and punctuation have been normalized):
*
*
*
Year: 1941
January 4: School is looming nearer. . . I shall be sorry. . . to begin
again the long grind....
January 12: Practically all the American news of this time is about
defense. President Roosevelt is now trying to get power of leasing
arms to Britain, etc. There is much dispute over whether he is
trying to become a dictator.
January 19: [On the radio] I heard Joseph Szigetti, a violinist who
sounds, to me, perfect—without a single flaw.
January 24: I went to the concert given by Mischa Elman after
supper—it was the best violin concert I have heard; though he is
perhaps not the best violinist, for he made a few mistakes. However, his playing, in general, is masterly.
February 4: . . .I cannot help feeling that Hitler has some plan,
which will not be long in coming, and against which England will
have a hard job to stand up.
February 17: I spent all evening in reading Maurois’ “Ariel” (a life
of Shelley). (It took me 4 1/2 hours). My first impressions are that
it is very good.
A Journal Revisited
181
February 23: After supper I went to see a large fire, which
entirely consumed a small factory: said to be recently hired by the
government. Perhaps sabotage? This was the first real fire I have
ever seen, and it was an awe-inspiring sight. Think how London
must look, with several fires larger than this, every few nights.
February 27: I finished Strachey’s “Queen Victoria,” the best
biography I have yet read.
March 2: I have only 1 1/2 weeks till vacation, thank goodness.
It is always the looking forward to a vacation which is better than
the vacation itself; at least in my case.
March 11: The Lend-Lease Bill, for all out British aid, was
passed today.
March 15: President Roosevelt this evening spoke on our aid to
Britain in a clear speech.
March 20: I read in the evening, finishing the following plays
today: Sidney Howard’s “They Knew What they Wanted,” George
Kelly’s “Craig’s Wife,” Paul Green’s “In Abraham’s Bosom,”
and Elmer Rice’s “Street Scene.” I liked the second and last best.
The first was too ordinary, and the 3rd too gruesome.
March 25: Yugoslavia has joined the Axis: Greece beware! I have
been planning all vacation to go on a trip to New York Friday
with Mr. Baldwin. I would go on a boat with Dad, but now
mother says I cannot go—I would pay my own way, but Dad has
to accompany me (I am not capable of going myself?), and it
would cost him too much. I suppose it is wrong of me, but I still
want very much to go there for the first time.
April 13: I read Maurois’ “Disraeli,” an excellent biography.
April 18: The Yugoslavs have surrendered and the British are
182 Writing Across the Curriculum
being pushed back in Greece. Slowly, but surely, this country is
approaching war. Our history teacher predicts that by the end of
the year, we shall have entered it.
April 26: On the way home 1 cigarette—the first since summer.
May 1: The British are said to have saved 80% of their troops in
Greece, by a second Dunkerque; but I fear the Suez Canal is in
grave danger.
May 5: Although many are speaking against Lindbergh, I believe
that it is right for him to be allowed to speak his views—defeatist
though they may be.
May 9: The apple blossoms are out, and these, mingled with lilacs
and many other flowers, make the air very fragrant.
May 12-16: Concern with Hess’s flight to England. My conclusion:
“. . . Hess probably came to England because he disagreed with
Hitler’s joining the Russians.”
May 25: The “Hood,” the greatest English battle-cruiser, was today
sunk.
May 28: The President made a historic speech last night proclaiming us in a state of emergency: War is soon here.
June 9: After supper I went to the Competition in musical instruments. I played the first movement of Mozart’s E flat Concerto,
and they say I did well (for me), but, since they wanted to give the
prize to a young beginner, Graham, I got none.
June 17: U.S. and Germany broke off diplomatic relations yesterday.
July 28: Well, today I started out on a new experience, that of
A Journal Revisited
183
assistant dishwasher at Langsford House, a hotel of about 110
guests, at Cape Porpoise, Maine. We arrived at 11:15 a.m., and I
got right to work. They have an electric machine, so that we
merely have to stack the dishes.
August 7: I am having a very good time here, but I would not want
to live like this very long, for there is nothing constructive to do
in your spare time.
August 9: Today after the breakfast dishes, one of the boys
(Charlie Beattie, a bell boy) was fired for stealing a bracelet and
some money. As a result the dishwasher became a bell-hop, and I
became the chief dishwasher; I receive $7 per week now.
August 14: Roosevelt and Churchill, it was announced today, had
a secret (?) meeting and formulated an eight-point peace program.
This is a momentous meeting, but we will not feel the effects of
it for a little while.
August 19: My present philosophy of life is this: We are all given
certain abilities. We are supposed to use these as well as we can.
The purpose of life is to see how well we can use those abilities,
however slight they may be.
August 31: All phases of life and art are concerned with developing a theme.
September 9: Today it was learned the Germans sank an American
ship in the Red Sea and one in the Atlantic. Added to the Greer,
these could seem to show that Hitler wants U.S. at war.
September 18: I saw, this evening, the Northern lights. But, unlike
the customary appearance, these were of all hues, like huge
candles, from all sides, even the south. At times they formed a
vault, which covered the entire sky with streaks and shimmering
light. I have never seen them as clear.
184 Writing Across the Curriculum
September 25: An example of the lower living standards necessitated by the decrease in ability to buy the metal products desired,
brought about by the war, is brought home. This morning our
water boiler broke. We cannot get a similar one except by an order
that may take many days to fill. The only way we can get one now
is to buy a more expensive one which the gas company has in
stock.
October 1: The unrest in conquered Europe is steadily mounting.
Beware Nazis!
October 2: I thought, today, that common sense must enter into any
argument; that logic alone is not enough, for things do not always
occur as we would expect. Instead, ironically, they often happen
the way that no reasoning would reach.
October 5: I today wondered if anyone on earth could ever be truly
happy; I think not. They can’t because the future is uncertain, and
for complete happiness security is necessary.
October 9: I have almost made up my mind to write on this
question for my 1500 word English Essay: Is anyone ever truly
happy?
October 11: Mr. Blackmer, my English teacher, seems to me to
have the elements of greatness. He is absolutely logical, he is
thorough and fair; but, above all, he is a human being.
October 16: The Germans are pushing on to Moscow. They have
captured Odessa on the Baltic, and are, all along the 2000 mile
front, advancing. Japan, the sly fox, is now probably going to
actively join the Axis because she wants to be on the bandwagon.
October 17- Today Germany torpedoed an American destroyer!!
and America passed the bill to arm merchant ships. That the U.S.
will enter the war is almost inevitable. It is up to Germany how
long she will stay out.
A Journal Revisited
185
October 18: After studying I went to Boston to the Symphony for
the first time in my life: It was excellent, and since I had a seat
near the front, I could see Koussevitsky’s mannerisms very well.
The program was fair: a Mozart symphony (the Haffner), the initial
performance of William Schuman’s 3rd Symphony and
Tchaikovsky’s 6th, but the playing was superb.
October 23: Boston was, today, made the clearing port for all ships
from the U.S. to Russia. The night curfew on gasoline, too, is to
be lifted, since Britain has returned 40 tankers she had been using.
October 27: Roosevelt made a speech at 10 p.m. in which he tried
to arouse us against Hitler. It was not constructive, however, since
it merely gave again what he has been repeating for months.
November 2: The leaves are almost all off the trees now, though
a few remain like tattered rags to flap in the breeze. We are nearing
war. Another American destroyer was sunk a few days ago, but
Germany claims this ship attacked her sub first.
November 8: In the evening I went with a group of English classes
to Boston to see Maurice Evans in “Macbeth.” The scenery and
presentation were excellent and the acting of the majority superb,
especially Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the gate-keeper. The only
criticism was that the music, consisting of organ and muted
trumpets, was “corny.” This is the best play I have yet seen (I have
seen only 2 other actual professional ones).
November 11: I do not believe that a person should be lauded for
his abilities; instead, for what he makes of those abilities which he
does possess.
November 13: The repeal of the Neutrality Bill passed Congress
today. We shall soon be in war.
186 Writing Across the Curriculum
November 14: After supper I studied, practiced singing and violin
and finished Shaw’s “Saint Joan.” His genius is obvious in this
play, a magnificent work.
November 15: After dinner I went with the Elliots (Gordon was
kind
enough to invite me to go with him and his family, except for Mrs.
Elliot) to Exeter to watch the great Andover-Exeter football game.
We won by the close score 14-13. After getting home (we were
lost for a while on the back, and found ourselves in Newburyport),
I had supper, then went to my second Boston Symphony concert.
I enjoy them a great deal.
November 18: We had been planning to have Dorothy, Priscilla
and Rossy here for Thanksgiving, but we called it off. It seems to
me that this family never invites anyone to the house, with the
result of a missing freedom of action when we are among other
people; a reticence and shyness which is exhibited by all of us
except John [my brother].
November 19: After dinner I practiced, then went with May [my
sister] and Gordon [a friend mentioned above] to see “La Femme
du Boulanger,” (“The Baker’s Wife”) a truly great motion picture
entirely in French, with English captions. The greatness of the
picture lies not in an exceptionally original plot (a baker’s wife
runs off with a shepherd, but eventually returns, repentant) but in
its intently potent picture of the suffering of the boulanger; indeed
in its portrayal of true life. It is unlike the usual Hollywood
productions, for it presents a view of actual life, without artificiality: it is the best movie I have ever seen as an approach to art.
November 28: I had to miss a lecture by Margaret Bourke-White,
one of the most famous photographers in the world, because of my
theme on “Ability: Its Significance in Success.”
A Journal Revisited
187
December 1: I finished Tolstoy’s great novel “War and Peace.”
War with Japan will occur unless Germany suffers a defeat which
is impressive enough to make Japan doubt whether the Axis can
really win.
December 4: Dr. Darling [history teacher] is an extraordinary
teacher. He realizes the dynamic power of certain historical facts
and tries to impress them upon us. He has not once become angry
at one class, although he keeps us alert every second of the time.
December 5: Japan is threatening even more to be a source of
conflict with the United States and Britain. Since the Germans
have not yet made her sure of success against Russia, Japan is
holding off. But, I believe, when Moscow is taken we had better
look out; for Japan will not.
December 6: After dinner I spent my time preparing for our annual
trip to Roger’s Hall in Lowell. We gave a moderately successful
concert and then met our partners, ate and danced. A Lowell girl
whose father is a jeweler, Millicent Cotter, was my partner.
Although she was only a Sophomore, nevertheless she was a very
likable girl, and I enjoyed the evening with her. I was not
impressed with any other girl except Joan Thomas, my first year’s
partner (3 years ago), who is now president of the school, and I
danced a few minutes with her.
December 7: Clear-Cloudy and Cold: 20-40 F. It has happened!
We are in the war! At 2:22 p.m. today Japan declared war on the
United States, and, before that, bombed Pearl Harbor, killing 300
American soldiers. I was wrong in believing that Japan would wait
until Moscow fell. But, I cannot see what she gains by this attack,
except perhaps to draw American resources away from Europe,
under Hitler’s orders. My own reactions are as follows: I have no
hatred for Japan; I have no liking for the war; I am excited, but not
outwardly; I cannot realize how much the war will affect me
188 Writing Across the Curriculum
personally. There was a large fire in Lawrence today. I saw the
engines pouring water on the Brocklman Market Building and I
saw the Central Building; both shells in the upper floors.
December 8: As was expected, we today declared war, by a
resolution of both Houses, against Japan. Roosevelt made a speech
at 12:30 p.m. to which the entire school listened before the
resolution. It seems, sad to relate, that the Japanese had planned
this war well, for they have attacked nearly all the Pacific Island
possessions of the United States, and have greatly damaged Pearl
Harbor. In Europe, the Germans have given up hope of capturing
Moscow before spring a piece of good news.
The war is having a decided effect upon us as students. Aside
from taking away our interest in our subjects, it causes a highly
keyed excitement which the slightest unexpected occurrence will
aggravate and cause I don’t know what results.
December 9: Today the East Coast had an air-raid scare. Somehow
the rumor of enemy planes attacking circulated so that all precautions were taken: schools let out (even we had no athletics), traffic
stopped, factories let out, stores closed, etc. There was great
excitement, but everything was carried out systematically except
for a few untrained people making it harder. When it was found
it was merely a test, some felt really disappointed; I did.
December 10: We are beginning to become used to the war. A
great change has come, however. We have an enemy now, and we
are using means of getting the public anger aroused. The word
“Jap” is used, with a disdainful sound; 3 new songs have come out
against the Japanese. There are pleas for everyone’s help in the
defense. Now, I believe that these measures are justified, although
I do not like them; for I can see that we are beginning to lose our
self control. We are losing the war, however, at least, both our
ships and British ships are being sunk rapidly.
A Journal Revisited
189
December 11: Today, after Germany and Italy declared war on us,
we declared it on them. How fast events are taking place. It is
impossible to realize the extent of the implications of this war. If
we should lose, which I cannot foresee unless Russia changes her
side, it would be truly terrible. But, meanwhile, we have to
continue to study.
December 13: At assembly today, sheets of instruction about what
to do during air raids. I hope they will not come to be needed. I
hear, too, that the infirmary is to be used as a hospital for the town
in case of air raids, with beach wagons as ambulances. The war
itself seems to be progressing very favorably. It is strange, but I
feel that it is impossible for us to lose. I feel as if the Axis is the
“underdog,” and almost pity them in looking ahead to the results
of a victory.
December 14: For the next 3 days I shall have to delegate the War
to a secondary position while preparing for exams.
December 22: After dinner I went skating at Gordon’s. At 4,
Gordon and I went to Lawrence and from 4-7:45 we were at the
Lawrence District Air-Raid warning center. There we received one
good check call from the Boston line. But, Gordon accidentally
pushed down all the buttons on the telephone, thus locking them
and throwing the telephone out of order. On the 2nd check call,
therefore, we could not report back. We had to go through a great
deal of worry until a service man fixed the phone.
December 24: This Christmas is to be my first War one. There is
an atmosphere of recklessness. “This is our last chance to have a
good time, so let’s make it a good Christmas.” And, that feeling
may be justified, for we are beginning to feel the effects of the war.
A 10% tax is on practically all luxuries and even some necessities;
190 Writing Across the Curriculum
and, besides, dealers are running low on stocks which cannot be
refilled.
December 26: Today Winston Churchill addressed the combined
Houses of Congress in an expression of Anglo-American unity, at
the same time voicing the optimistic view that we shall win the
war, although this will entail much hard struggle. I was for 3 hours
an air raid spotter of planes at the Andover listening post. We
report all planes seen or heard to the army in Boston. The work of
preparing New England for air raids is going ahead steadily, and
if there can be a few more weeks, we will be fully prepared.
December 31: After dinner I went to Lawrence and had some
pictures taken for my Harvard application. I then practiced. In the
evening I went to MacFarlan’s and, after taking a while, took
Margaret to the midnight show at the Playhouse. This is the first
time I have ever taken a girl to a movie that I remember, and I
enjoyed welcoming in 1942 in that way. As for Margaret, I cannot
tell yet how well I like her. It is queer; I cannot understand why
I should suddenly start seeing any girl so much.
*
*
*
It is doubtful whether the selections above would have been
written for an assigned journal. Several tendencies of teachers
(myself included) would work against the spontaneity which such
expression required. First, the very fact that the material was
required would dampen the enthusiasm for direct self-expression.
Second, and even worse, if a specific assignment were made
requiring, say, a reaction to a play or a book, it would stifle
somewhat the enthusiasm which free choice makes. Third, some
observations (like those made about teachers) would hardly be
expected in a journal to be passed for a class.
A Journal Revisited
191
Yet I see no real cause for alarm. Journals for the classroom
might, indeed, encourage students to continue on their own, in
their own way. Thus they might become the catalyst for some
future Pepys or Evelyn.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
(1996)
Visiting a Revisited Journal
After re-reading the article I wrote for Volume 2 of the Writing
Across the Curriculum Journal for 1990, I have had almost seven
years to test my hypothesis that writing a journal should be a
spontaneous, not a specifically assigned expression. I confess that
I have not fully adhered to my own advice, and finding the journal
a convenient agent for assuring homework assignments, I have
frequently assigned as entries reactions to readings, or classroom
activities. I suppose I should feel guilty of expediency; but I rather
think I have been acting pragmatically, since journals in classrooms provide one of the best ways to encourage involvement by
an entire class in assignments otherwise not assured of universal
acceptance.
I am still hoping to put the original concept of the journal into
the classroom. Perhaps it would best fit in a class devoted to
writing non-fiction, as one mode of self expression. In this context
it could be left entirely free. Perhaps in such a class we could
supply each student with a colorful blank book to encourage the
writing of colorful prose.
192 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1997)
How WAC Changed My Life:
a Foreword to “Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of
Statistics” (1989)
Robert Hayden
WAC works in strange ways. I got involved in Writing Across
the Curriculum to help my students understand statistics. I still
think that is essential, but I certainly have not had any recent
breakthroughs in how to do it. What does strike me in looking
back at the past decade is the change in the role writing has in my
professional life. To my surprise, I have become a writer, a
member of an Editorial Board, an Associate Editor and Coeditor.
One thing special about the Writing Across the Curriculum program at Plymouth has been its encouragement of the faculty’s own
professional writing. Let me tell you about some of my “adventures in writing” during the past ten years.
I came to Plymouth in 1985, four years after receiving my
Ph.D. I had already published the obligatory paper based on my
dissertation research. I had even had two rather peculiar commercial successes with my writing. First, someone had ordered a copy
of my dissertation from University Microfilms, who then sent me
a royalty check. Thus, I joined the select few who have ever made
any money from their doctoral dissertation! Then a publication
whose name I can never remember asked me to do a guest editorial
based on my dissertation. In my own mind, I always call this
How WAC Changed My Life
193
publication “The Chronicle of Lower Education,” since it performs
a function similar to our own Chronicle, but for lower educational
levels. They actually offered to pay me for my writing! This is
all the more surprising in that my editorial never appeared. A new
editor took over while I was writing the piece. He was not
interested in publishing it, but felt obliged to pay for it, so then I
joined the select few who
have ever been paid for an unpublished work.
Despite these freakish commercial “successes,” I came to
Plymouth wondering how much writing would be required for
promotion and tenure, and what I could possibly write about. My
piece in the 1989 PSC WAC Journal, “Using Writing to Improve
Student Learning of Statistics,” was my first publication as a
faculty member
here. Eventually, it was rewritten for a total of five different
audiences. One of our Composition instructors asked for copies to
illustrate the idea of “writing for your audience.” One of these
versions appeared in a collection of papers on using writing in
teaching mathematics that was published by the Mathematical
Association of America in 1990. That was my first “off-campus”
publication as a PSC faculty member.
At about that same time, I taught an off-campus statistics
course for high school mathematics teachers with Farid Kianifard,
a tremendously energetic young statistician who was with us at the
time. Even though the course itself was not a great success, he
insisted we should write up our experiences, both good and bad,
and submit them for publication. It seemed unlikely to me that
anyone would be interested, but Farid’s enthusiasm was infectious,
and we did get a paper written. For a while we were deadlocked
over where to submit it. I wanted it to reach teacher trainers,
though I was not sure what journal would be appropriate for that
purpose. He wanted to submit it to The American Statistician,
194 Writing Across the Curriculum
which he felt would be the most prestigious place for it to appear.
Eventually I let him have his way, figuring that I would get to
submit it to my choice of journals after it was rejected by his.
Unfortunately, The American Statistician accepted it with very
minor changes, and it appeared in November of 1992.
In August of that year, the American Statistical Association
had its national meeting in Boston, and I contributed a survey
paper on using writing in teaching statistics. For the literature
search, I used national databases which I accessed with the help of
the staff of Lamson Library. This gave me access to many
resources I would not have had locally, and I was so enthusiastic
that I wrote a brief note on the process and distributed it electronically to a group known as the “Isolated Statisticians” — mostly
statisticians teaching in small colleges without a statistics department. One of the staff of the database I used saw it, and asked to
publish it in the newsletter they send to
subscribers to their service. This was the first of a number of
pieces I have put on the Internet that eventually found their way
into print.
In addition to getting paid for an article not published, I have
also had published an article not submitted. In March of 1993, my
colleague Bill Roberts and I gave a presentation to school mathematics teachers at Keene State College. By then I was regularly
thinking of translating my professional activities into writing, so
Bill and I prepared a written version of our talk to hand out to
those in attendance. As it turned out, we were scheduled opposite
Dick Evans — a very popular speaker with that audience. As a
result, we had many copies of our paper left over after the talk. I
offered the remains to people on an Internet mailing list devoted to
statistics education. To our surprise, the demand far exceeded our
supply. Not feeling brave enough to tax the Mathematics
Department’s copying budget still further, I prepared an electronic
How WAC Changed My Life
195
version. Months later, Dick Evans congratulated Bill and me on
our publication. When we asked, “What publication?” he showed
us a copy of a newsletter Texas Instruments sends to teachers using
their calculators. In it we found the electronic version of our
paper! To this day we do not know how or why it was published.
This work with high school teachers led to my first books. The
Connecticut Business and Industry Association received a grant
from the National Science Foundation to produce a series of
innovative high school mathematics textbooks. Most NSF grants
I have worked with were submitted by the team who would
actually do the work, and they were usually a group of like-minded
people who had already collaborated. In contrast, the CBIA got
the grant and then hired writers to produce the books. One fellow
that they hired seemed to have a very bad case of writer’s block.
He had produced nothing during the school year, and as the time
for the intensive month-long summer writing session approached,
the CBIA reluctantly concluded that he never would produce
anything. A last minute replacement was sought. By a complicated chain of connections whose every link I still do not know, a
friend of a friend sounded me out on this position. I interviewed
for the job on a Friday. The following Monday, the summer
writing session began with me as part of the team. It was a “trial
by ordeal” of 60-80 hour work weeks, but a chapter did emerge at
the end of the month. I eventually wrote about a third of the ninth
and tenth grade texts, dropped out for a year, and am now revising
my chapters in the hope of commercial publication. In the
meantime, the materials are in pilot use by about 7000 students,
mostly in Connecticut.
I have mentioned collaborations with faculty colleagues. Last
spring, I was fortunate to collaborate with a very talented student,
Michelle Lamarre. For years I have had students working on a
study of the statistical training of future teachers. Because of my
196 Writing Across the Curriculum
involvement with textbook writing, the data they gathered was
itself gathering dust. Michelle expressed an interest in working
with it and did a superb job of analyzing it. She presented her
results to the New England Statistics Symposium in April and to
the Northeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of
America in June. We worked together on a written report which
we submitted to the Journal for Statistics Education. Reviews
from the three referees pointed in three different directions, but the
editor was encouraging. Michelle has graduated and gone on to
bigger and better things, and I have been very busy with other
projects, but I hope we can finish that paper and see it “in print.”
The Journal for Statistics Education is a relatively new electronic journal, and its papers never do appear “in print” unless you
print them out yourself. Once the journal was up and running, the
founders established an Editorial Board with a revolving membership to carry on the journal’s work. I have been a member for a
year or so, and now I get to complain about other peoples’ writing.
Alas, the review process is double blind so my position on the
Editorial Board will not help to get my paper with Michelle
published. Starting in 1997, I will be coeditor of a section of the
journal called “Datasets and Stories.” Here we present examples
of data, and the story behind the data, that may be useful in
teaching statistics.
In addition to the papers mentioned above, I have also been
writing reviews for The Statistics Teacher Network andThe American Statistician. The latter journal has long had a section entitled
“Accent on Teaching Materials” which has been very dear to me
because it provides a place for reviews of all the many nonbook
things that might be of use to teachers. As one example, I
reviewed the Internet’s statistics education e-mail list, EdStat-L,
for this journal. I have already mentioned the Internet a number
of times. If this article could be described as “How WAC Changed
How WAC Changed My Life
197
my Life,” it could just as well be rewritten as “How the Internet
Changed my Life.” The Internet provides a way for faculty at the
smaller, poorer, or more isolated institutions to participate in their
professions. I hope Plymouth will continue to enjoy the access and
support (a.k.a. Frank Olcott) I have enjoyed in recent years. These
resources are a new thing in education, and few journals have a
section for reviewing e-mail lists. I am very glad that The
American Statistician provides a home for such oddball reviews.
Starting this month (January 1997), I will be the Associate Editor
of that journal responsible for these reviews of “miscellaneous
stuff.”
Ten years ago I wondered if I would be writing at all at PSC.
Today, writing is a major part of my professional life, and Writing
Across the Curriculum has had an important role in that development. It is obvious that good luck has played a major role as well
— you usually do have to submit a paper in order to get it
published! Still, I feel I have learned some things that might
encourage the writing of others. First, I found it was much easier
to get published than I ever imagined. If you are doing anything
interesting, I encourage you to write about it. Chances are your
colleagues will find it interesting, too. Often the real problem is
figuring out where to submit the result. Graduate school taught us
about the research journals in our fields, but PSC cannot afford to
buy each of us a cyclotron to pursue research on fundamental
particles. Publications aimed at high school teachers in our own
field may be much more accessible. Don’t overlook publication
outside the academic world. Several of the writing activities I
described above were sponsored or published by commercial
entities. While none of them led to a place on the New York Times
bestseller list, I think they were all effective in reaching their
appropriate audience. The role of writing in fundamental research
is to inform our colleagues of what we are doing in the laboratory.
For those of us who are primarily teachers rather than researchers,
it is just as important to write to share what we are doing in the
classroom.
198 Writing Across the Curriculum
(1989)
Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of Statistics
Robert Hayden
This paper discusses student writing assignments (and my
goals for same) in Math 230, Introduction to Statistics, and Math
330, Applied Statistics Using the Computer. What I have done can
most readily be extended to other courses in which mathematics is
applied to the world around us. It can less readily be extended to
courses in pure mathematics or to courses that stress computational
techniques or algebraic manipulations.
I want to begin with some discussion of the reasons why I feel
a need for writing assignments. This is as much directed at those
already convinced of the importance of Writing Across the Curriculum as it is at those who are unconvinced. In talking with the
unconvinced, I often find disagreements about the goals and nature
of education to be the key differences. Even among the convinced,
different sources of conviction lead to different writing assignments with different goals. By making my goals explicit, I hope to
stimulate interest among the unconvinced and reflection among the
convinced.
Let me tell you about the experience that first showed me the
need for student writing in applied statistics. I had written an
Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of Statistics
199
examination question that required my students to do a hypothesis
test. It ended with a poorly worded question that students interpreted in a variety of ways. Some simply provided the results of
their calculations along with a number they had extracted from a
statistical table. Others included some jargon about “rejecting the
null hypothesis” while others stated a conclusion in more practical
terms such as “the tested drug is probably more effective than the
standard treatment.” Some students provided two or even all three
of these responses. In fact, all three constitute restatements of a
single fact in different language. Unfortunately, I found little or no
correlation between the different answers of students who gave
multiple answers. If the numbers clearly indicated that the null
hypothesis should be rejected or the treatment declared effective,
students were just as likely to say the opposite.
Reflecting on my students’ answers, I reached a number of
conclusions.
1. Since their final conclusions were no better than what they
might have reached via a simple coin toss, all the complex
computations I had taught them were of no real value.
2. My students’ lack of understanding was mostly no fault of
their own. Their textbook spent pages and pages showing
them worked examples of how to do the computations, but
far less space discussing what the computations meant.
Exercises asked them to perform computations but rarely
asked them to explain their results. Nor were they ever
required to select an appropriate technique. The appropriate
technique was alwayswhatever technique was described
most recently. This led to some serious thought about what
my students needed to learn in a statistics course, and how
I might help them to learn those things.
200 Writing Across the Curriculum
I next asked myself what my students were likely to need to do
with statistics after graduation. I tried to order these needs on the
basis of how many of my students might have them. I hope you
will pardon my listing those needs here, because they are relevant
to all kinds of “book learning.”
1. Virtually all of my students would need to evaluate quantitative information presented to them in newspapers, at zoning
board meetings, by their doctor, or by numerous other
sources. These students need to know what a mean or a
standard deviation is or means. They need to know the
strengths and weaknesses of these numbers as summaries.
They need a healthy skepticism toward quantitative claims.
2. A smaller group of my students would need to evaluate the
meaning and propriety of more technical statistical tech
niques that might be used by researchers in their own field.
3. A still smaller group of my students might need to evaluate
statistical work done by subordinates or provided by consultants.
4. A very small group of my students might actually carry out
a statistical study themselves. These students would certainly need to know how to pick an appropriate technique.
They would almost certainly use a computer to carry out
the mechanics of data storage, editing, and analysis.
5. An even smaller number of my students might one day
need to carry out a large scale statistical study while
stranded on a desert island, or at a remote wilderness loca
tion, or in some other situation in which a computer would
be unavailable. These students would need to know how to
perform the computations by hand.
Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of Statistics
201
If we look at most statistics books, and most statistics courses, we
find them organized as if my last group of students were the norm.
Indeed, the whole pyramid is inverted. Few textbook problems
deal with meaning or interpretation rather than computational
technique.
So, I resolved to try to spend more time on meaning, evaluation,
and interpretation. However, my new found idealism was tempered
by a basic fact of schooling: the students won’t learn anything that
does not appear on the exams. The simple conclusion is that
questions involving meaning, evaluation, and interpretation must
appear on the exams. Once we reach this conclusion, the need for
writing is obvious: the answers to questions of meaning, evaluation, and interpretation are verbal, not numeric. Thus writing
becomes not just another subject to teach, nor even a tool for
achieving traditional goals, but rather a necessary path to developing higher-level quantitative skills.
These, then, are the values and experiences that have shaped my
interest in Writing Across the Curriculum. Let me now deal with
some of the practical problems of implementation. The most
important piece of advice is: start slow. Your students have had an
average of 14 years of experience with teachers who preached the
importance of higher level skills but tested only on memorization
and manipulative skills. Your best sermons will therefore have no
effect, and your students will all fail that first exam when you ask
them all those questions exercising skills they have never developed. You will become discouraged, curse their stupidity and your
own idealism (how silly at your age!), and return to rote drill.
Actually your students can do far more than you imagine, but they
need your help. There follows some advice on providing that help.
Bear in mind that it is based on all of the above. If your reasons
for using writing assignments differ from mine, you may prefer a
different approach.
202 Writing Across the Curriculum
The first thing you need to change is your teaching. Deemphasize mechanics. Assign only enough computational problems to get the ideas across. Keep the numbers very simple.
Encourage the use of calculators or computers for any computations beyond the bare minimum needed to grasp the concepts.
Spend lots of class time on interpretation and meaning.
Next, provide sample test questions! This communicates the
nature of your expectations and the fact that you are not kidding.
Once you have taught the course this way a few times, you will
have a bank of old exams. Share them freely. Let students see for
themselves that you really do ask embarrassing questions on
exams. Distribute these old exams well in advance. Students
cannot change their study habits the night before an exam. Indeed,
you will find that they will initially, but very strongly, resist
changing their study habits at all. There really is not much you can
do about that except to fail those who do not perform at the level
you desire. Things will improve as word gets around and students
enter your class with expectations already tempered by your
reputation.
Then there is the matter of writing exam questions. Start small.
Problem 1 on Exam 1 should not be
Compare and contrast the methods, assumptions, uses,
and histories of parametric and nonparametric statistical
techniques, giving special attention to their impact on the
methodology of the social sciences.
A more reasonable start might be
For the data 3,1,4,1,21, find the mean, mode and median.
Which of these would best summarize this data? Why?
Since I am hoping that many of my readers do not teach statistics,
Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of Statistics
203
I do not want to give a large number of statistical examples. The
principles should be clear.
Keep in mind that the main goal is to force the students to think.
Forcing them to write is just a tool, a way to hold them accountable
for thought. You do not have to make them write a lot of words
as long as you get them to think a lot of thoughts. One-sentence
answers may meet your goals. Also keep in mind that reading and
writing may often be interchanged. Instead of asking students
Find the slope in y=2x+3.
Or even
Interpret the slope in y=2x+3.
You might ask
How much does y change for a unit increase in x when
y=2x+3?
Now the answer is a single number—much easier to grade than
a student written sentence or a paragraph on the subject.
Sometimes teachers are discouraged by the quality of writing
they get or discouraged from asking for writing by fears of what
they might get. In my experience, lack of mastery of subject matter
will far outweigh any writing flaws. Indeed, you may discover that
your students know far less than you thought about the meaning of
those numbers you taught them to calculate. This can be taken as
a sign of either the futility or the importance of your work,
depending on your outlook on life. You should work on teaching
your discipline until the content of the answers is better than the
expression. In the process, you will find that the expression
improves by itself. No one communicates well when they have not
204 Writing Across the Curriculum
the faintest idea what they are talking about.
Yet another issue is grading student writing. Here my solution
is as simple as it is radical: don’t. I grade them only on such
knowledge of statistics as they are able to communicate to me. As
long as their mastery of the mechanics is good enough so I can
understand what they are saying, they can get full credit. The only
grammatical advice I ever give is, “Never start your first sentence
with a pronoun.” Many of my students are as anxious about
grammar and punctuation as they are about statistics. For better or
worse, I try to handle things so they never notice they are in a “W”
course. My exams are meant to reflect what statistics is all about,
not to reflect what writing is all about.
However, there are some things on the border line between
statistics and rhetoric that I do take into account. I prefer short,
direct answers. (Often students are amazed at how short an answer
I will accept.) Ambiguity or vagueness is taken as a sign of
uncertainty and costs points. So do irrelevancies. I insist that
students read the question carefully and stick to it. Indeed, the
biggest problem I find (other than lack of knowledge of statistics)
is failure to answer the question asked. This, of course, is a
problem of thought rather than syntax.
I have been writing as if all the writing I require is on exams.
That is very nearly true. Remember that I am trying to find ways
to get students to think and ways to hold them accountable for
thinking, and exams are the ultimate accountant. I have experimented with projects where students analyze a set of data and write
up a report, but I have not had a great deal of success with this.
Just worrying about what the numbers mean is a wrenching change
for many students. Asking them to consider the meaning of dozens
of numbers and integrate them into a report is really too much to
ask. Perhaps this will change as other instructors, especially those
Using Writing to Improve Student Learning of Statistics
205
in the high schools and grade schools, start to emphasize meaning
and interpretation.
Perhaps I should close with some sort of “evaluation” of the
success of what I have been doing. This is impossible. I have no
idea of what students thought a standard deviation meant before I
started asking them. Based on their answers during the brief
transition period, before they expected such questions on exams,
my suspicion is that it never dawned on them that a standard
deviation had a meaning. It was just a cue-word used to Pavlovically
stimulate a certain computation. On the other hand, I have often
noticed that mathematicians and statisticians are among those least
compelled to quantify everything, perhaps precisely because they
do know the meanings of numbers—which entails knowing which
numbers are meaningless. For me it is enough that today much of
my students’ attention is directed toward the parts of statistics that
I consider most worth knowing. A decade ago almost all their
attention was devoted to the parts least worth knowing. I cannot
quantify that change, but I can tell you it is a very important
change, and a change that could only have been brought about by
making students write.